Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always
by Ookami Z
Summary: Shizuru and Natsuki must face the consequences of their careless mistake. They must now fight against family, society, and their own fears to save not only their love, but the product of it. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay! Here is another story featuring ShizNat! This is AU and might be some OoC.**

**I want to thank WouldBeSenpai for her advice and support along this way for this and other stories. Arigato! I also want to thank my bud Jose for editing this chapter for me. Gracias Bro!**

**And Last but not Least, I want to thank my readers. Thank you all for all your love :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-HiME/Mai-Otome or their characters. I do own this story and my characters.**

**UPDATE 3.25.2010- I re-uploaded this chapter because I went over it and caught some mistakes. well a lot actually. sorry about that guys. I need a BETA Por favor!!!**

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_**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**_

_**1**_

The echoes of laughter and conversations traveled through the school hallways as students entered their respective classrooms to start a new day of learning. This was just one of the many schools in the country of Windbloom, yet Fuuka Academy was the best school of Magic that existed in Earl. In a world that breathed magic and every human was capable of using it, schools taught responsible use of it that benefited the community as a whole, not individualistic and selfish ideas that could begin rebellions and increase the criminal rate.

"_Please stand_." The students rose from their seats as the voice of Headmistress Miss Maria resounded through the intercom system.

"_We will now say the pledge_." Miss Maria ordered as the students took their cue to place both of their hands above their heart.

_"I pledge with my life to serve and commit my powers to the greater good and for the well-being of my community. To always thank and bless Himeno-sama for giving me the life I now enjoy."_

After the pledge, Miss Maria began the morning announcements. "_Students, this morning is the beginning of a new week, but I feel disappointed and ashamed to have to say that we have received news that this weekend, there was some vandalizing in the city near school grounds and reports show that the prime suspects are students from this academy_."

Collective gasps were heard through the school as some people smiled and others smirked. "_Therefore_," Miss Maria continued, "_We will conduct an investigation to bring out the culprits who are responsible of putting our school's name in shame. Be assured that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in this academy_."

The intercom clicked off as snickers began. Students turning to each other hoping to get information of what had actually happened. "Mou, I wish I had been there. I never get to see anything fun anymore..." Chie sulked as she leaned across Aoi's desk as her girlfriend patted her dark short hair softly. "Whatever Chie, you were invited and you turned us down, so stop whining." Nao said as she turned from her desk towards Chie who jumped up with excitement, "Noooo wayyyy! It was you guys?!" Nao thumped her on the forehead, "Shut up dammit! Why don't you just go tell Miss Maria while you're at it?" Chie quickly dropped her voice to a whisper, "Gomen, but you really did?"

Nao rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Yeeeeees! Kruger was there too." Aoi smirked as she leaned closer to not be overheard, "Does Shizuru-san know that her girlfriend is vandalizing city property?" Chie and Nao both shared nervous looks, "No...." Nao responded as she looked around the room before spotting a particular bluenette that was just coming into the classroom.

_'Yes! I made it in time! Midori-sensei is not here yet!'_Natsuki claimed in victory as she rushed into the room realizing the teacher wasn't there yet. Her victory was short-lived when a soft and extremely familiar voice came behind her, "Na-tsu-ki..."

_'Crap! As much as I love her, why does she always have to be here in time? Can't she be late just once? Or later than me at least?'_ Natsuki's thoughts drawled on as she spun around. "Shi-Shizuru! Good morning!" She met a pair of teasing crimson eyes, "Why is my Natsuki late? Did she not want to see me earlier?" Shizuru asked with a fake pout. _'Oh come on, does she think I'm going to fall for that?'_Natsuki asked herself confidently, but her body responded differently, or her mouth did. "No no! I mean- yes I wanted to see you. I did! But I slept in and-and-" Natsuki stopped her endless excuse when she realized Shizuru was trying to stifle her laughter with her hand. "Ara. Natsuki is quite the articulate girl." Natsuki's brows furrowed as she glared at Shizuru without any effect, but Shizuru noticed her girlfriend's sour mood. _'Ara, I guess I will have to sweeten it up then, ne?'_

Natsuki was about to walk back to her desk, not wanting any more of Shizuru's teasing but stopped when Shizuru grabbed her arm and swiftly spun her around so that they were facing each other. "Shi-Shizu-" Natsuki's pleads were silenced when a pair of lips enraptured hers.

"Wow, Mutt has some of the weirdest luck I've ever seen. Not only is she dating one of the hottest girls in Fuuka Academy, and probably all of Windbloom, but she's totally whipped. That has to suck." Nao mused as her cobalt-haired friend was caught in a passionate kiss with her girlfriend. Chie and Aoi nodded in agreement.

**-snap-**

Nao, Chie and Aoi turned their attention when they heard the snapping sound and found a broken pencil in the hands of Takeda Masashi. Nao sighed exasperatedly, "Takeda, you need to chill out. They've been dating for like seven months now and you're still not over Natsuki?" The boy only smirked maliciously, "but of course I'm over her. Why wouldn't I be?" Chie pointed to the snapped pencil, "Only that makes us believe otherwise."

"Gah! Why must she do this to me?" Natsuki asked as she sat on her desk next to Nao as she ignored Takeda's pleading look. "Oh God. I swear that if you begin to complain about Shizuru kissing you I will beat your ass until only a puddle is left of the mutt okay?" Nao threatened. She really didn't understand how Natsuki could complain. Natsuki's blushed face slowly began to calm, "Spider is pissy-pissy today. I wonder why..." Chie burst into laughter as she recalled the lunch hour the day before where Nao's girlfriend, Nina, had threatened her with a break-up. "Chie!" Nao was about to jump Chie and beat her until her laughter turned into cries of mercy, when the teacher walked in.

"Sorry kids, please forgive my tardiness. I got caught up in some things but I'm here!" Midori explained quickly as she proceeded to take her teaching materials out. "Well, at least we know Yohko-sensei was well accompanied until now," Natsuki commented to her friends which elicited laughter from them. "It's true! Look at her flushed face! At least we know she had breakfast!" Nao said as they broke into fits of laughter until Midori glared at them to shut up.

"Anyways, let's begin today by practicing some teleportation spells. Pick a person in this room to teleport them to your current position." Midori instructed before flashes of light went off and laughter began. A sudden shriek caught the teacher's attention. She looked up from her book to see a tomato-red Natsuki sitting in Shizuru's lap as the brunette smirked with a mischievous look.

"Shizuru-san, please refrain from doing any inappropriate things during class, leave that for later. So teleport Natsuki-san back to a more proper place." Shizuru frowned but listened to the teacher's request. With a sift movement of her fingers, Natsuki was gone and back into her seat. Shizuru was the top student in the whole school, meaning the most powerful. Usually to teleport someone it required too much energy to do it multiple times within minutes but Shizuru did not even feel the energy drain. Teleportation also required the permission of the teleported, but Natsuki was in love with Shizuru, so the permission was already there.

"Okay, now that you had your fun, open your biology book to page 236. Today we are learning how babies are made!" Midori announced with glee as the students groaned. They knew Midori had too much fun with that subject, especially since she had told her class that she and her wife Yohko were making plans to have a child in the near future.

"As you already know, we are made from the energy of life that our parents form from their love to each other. This energy becomes material after it enters the womb of a woman. Although only females are able to bear children, same-sex couples of men are able to have a child of their own by using an external incubator that, as the name says it, incubates their common energy as it becomes a human being. So every one of you are made from the love of your parents!" The students rolled their eyes at the cheesy stuff. They all knew this but it was ordered that it had to be taught, along with ways of how to protect against unplanned pregnancies, every year once every few months. This was to hopefully discourage any unsafe sex since they knew that teenage hormones were a force to be reckoned with.

After class, Natsuki waited patiently for Shizuru outside the classroom. "Ara, please forgive me Natsuki but Haruka-chan just told me we have an emergency student council meeting and I must attend. Please do forgive me." Shizuru said as she came from the classroom with Haruka and Yukino following behind. "Oh, no don't worry about it. I'll see you later okay?" Natsuki said as she leaned in to kiss Shizuru quickly before leaving. "See you Natsuki." Shizuru waved off as Haruka tapped her foot impatiently, "Done yet bubuzuke? Or do you need more time for your public diskettes of affection?" Yukino opened her mouth as she was about to correct her girlfriend's misuse of words but was surprised at the word choice. "Diskettes?" Shizuru asked her friend incredulously as she saw Yukino's bewilderment mirroring her own. "What?!" Haruka asked when she saw their confused expressions, "I saw it in a book about the old world that I read okay?" Shizuru chuckled before turning to walk away towards the student council room, "Must've been a really old, old, old world book then."

Haruka's eyebrow twitched slightly when she realized Shizuru's mocking tone, "Hey Bubuzuke! Who do you think you are?!" Yukino only smiled as she followed them to their meeting.

"Kruger, you made it!" Nao called out as Natsuki joined their table in the cafeteria. "Huh?" Nao looked around and smirked when she didn't find Shizuru. "Oh, Shizuru is not here? That explains the look on your face that says 'I'm-a-puppy-and-my-master-left-me-so-I'm-all-sad'" The group of girls all burst into laughter at Natsuki's expense. "Damnit! I'm not a puppy!" Natsuki exclaimed furiously. "That's not what your blushing face says!" Chie said as she dodged a French-fry that Natsuki threw towards her.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?" Mai asked as she and Mikoto joined the table. "Nothing new, just here, hanging out, making fun of Natsuki. Same ol' thing." Nao replied with a smirk. "Oh, I see…" Mai said as she saw Natsuki's blushing, yet fuming, face. "Well, on another note, do you guys know what happened that Miss Maria was all upset and stuff?" Mai asked, and Chie immediately pointed towards Natsuki and Nao. "It was you guys?" Mai asked as she leaned in to whisper. Natsuki did not say anything as Nao nodded, "Who else would do something as awesome as that?"

"What exactly was it?" Aoi asked since no one had actually seen it. "Nothing really, just some spray paint on the wall across from the city hall. No big deal." Natsuki said as she opened a can of red-bull. "Hey, I thought those weren't allowed here." Mai said as Natsuki began to chug down the drink. "Like I care. I need this or else I won't be able to stay awake." Natsuki said as she placed the empty container down.

"Oh my, you should tell Shizuru-san to at least give you a break during school days or you'll be too exhausted to perform to your full potential." Chie said with a smirk, causing Natsuki to blush once more. "Na-Nani?! What are you talking about?!" Natsuki asked as she felt her face burn in embarrassment. Seriously, could she ever have a normal lunch without blushing? Probably not.

".God!" Nao said as she realized what Natsuki's blush meant, "You haven't slept with Shizuru yet have you?!" Chie, Aoi, Mikoto, and Mai all turned to Natsuki as they waited for an answer. "What's it to ya?!" Natsuki asked as she looked away trying to hide her blush. "SHE HASN'T!!!" Nao exclaimed as she and the rest of the girls once more began to laugh at their friend. Natsuki groaned as she laid her head on the table. "Why does this happen to me?" She muttered to herself as her friends continued with their laughs.

"Why?"

"I bet it was that criminal Kruger!" Haruka said as she bolted from her chair and pointed an accusing finger towards Shizuru who sipped on her tea calmly. "Ara, is Haruka-chan trying to say my girlfriend is guilty of an atrocity such as vandalizing city property?" She asked as she placed her tea cup down gently.

"Yes! Kruger might be smart and a good wizard, but she's still a criminal rebel. You can't deny it!" Haruka replied as Shizuru only continued to smile calmly, "Well, I could deny it, being as how she is my girlfriend, but you can't prove it either without any evidence that incriminates her."

Haruka fumed but took her seat again beside Yukino. "Well ladies, if we can't find the one guilty of this, Miss Maria could use the truth-teller spell and get it over with." Reito said as he finished eating his lunch. "I agree with Reito-san. It will be much easier that way. But we need suspects." Yukino added.

"That only brings us back to square one." Shizuru said as she reclined back into her chair. _'This is useless, no matter how I try to speed up this meeting, I won't have a chance to see Natsuki until after school…'_

"Well, I say we use it on everyone during an assembly and then we ask them and the guilty will have to confess." Haruka stated matter-of-factly. "Ara, that is indeed a good idea Haruka-chan." Shizuru said, slightly surprised that her friend had actually said something that wasn't dumb or pointless or just plain argumentative.

"Then it's settled. I will talk to Miss Maria so that she can see if she agrees with our plan." Reito said as they all packed their stuff away. "Thank you Reito-san." Shizuru said before leaving the student council room to go see Natsuki for the last few minutes of lunch.

Shizuru walked towards the table where she saw Natsuki laughing as she placed an ice cube down Nao's shirt, making the red-head scream loudly.

"GAH!" Nao jumped on Natsuki, making the bluenette fall back and the red-head fall atop of her. "Ara, ara, is this what it's come to Natsuki? Cheating on me with your friend during lunch while I work hard in a meeting?" Shizuru asked as she frowned and brought a hand to her face as if attempting to keep her composure. Natsuki turned surprised at the sound of Shizuru's voice to find her trying to hold back tears. "Shizuru! It's not like that!" She quickly pushed Nao off from atop of her and got up to her feet. "No, believe me. I would never do anything like that!" Natsuki said as she took Shizuru's hands. Shizuru smiled teasingly, her expression changing instantly, "Really?"

Natsuki sighed, relieved, "Yea, I was joking with the spider…you know...you know that I love you and only you."

"AAAWWWWW!" The girls cooed from the table after hearing Natsuki's shy confession. Shizuru leaned in and kissed Natsuki softly.

"Ara, I almost forgot," Shizuru said as she pulled back slightly to meet Natsuki's eyes, "This weekend I'm going home and, since as you know, it's my birthday, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me? My parents are taking me to my grandparent's house, and I'd like you to meet them."

"Oh, sure. I'd love to." Natsuki replied. "Okay then, I'll see you after school." Shizuru leaned in for another kiss as the bell rang and they all went to their classes. Although both Shizuru and Natsuki were seniors, they had different elemental classes with Natsuki mastering Ice element and Shizuru mastering Fire element.

"So what are you getting Shizuru?" Nao asked as they walked towards their class since Nao was mastering metal elements, and her class was in the same hall as Natsuki's. "It's none of your business." Natsuki replied, but Nao kept insisting, "Come on, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Fine, gosh, just shut up. I'm giving her that one necklace I showed you yesterday." Natsuki said as she stood in front of her classroom getting ready to enter. "No way! Wow, that's awesome." Nao said with a grin, "You are totally going to get major points for that. Maybe you'll finally get laid!" Natsuki was about to punch her when suddenly a bluenette came behind Nao, "Nao. Let's go or you'll be late to class."

Nao turned and found her girlfriend Nina glaring at her. "Oi! Nina! Sure, sure let's go." Nao left and threw a pleading look to Natsuki who only smirked and flipped the red-head off before entering her own class. As much as Nao was one of her best friends, she actually enjoyed when Nao was in trouble with her girlfriend. Nina had threatened the red-head that she would break up with her if she kept flirting with her ex, Shiho. Natsuki actually felt bad for Nina since Nao was still seeing Shiho although they had broken up a long time ago, but she couldn't do anything to betray her friend's trust. Nina would just have to deal with it herself.

'_A weekend with Shizuru…This is going to be fun…I'm glad her parents actually like me.'_Natsuki's thoughts drawled on as her mind wandered away from the lesson.

Shizuru had presented her to her parents a couple months into their relationship, and her parents had absolutely _loved_ Natsuki. Sumika Viola, Shizuru's mother, had been especially glad to meet her daughter's girlfriend. Natsuki smiled inwardly as she recalled the day she met Shizuru's parents.

"_Mom, Dad, this is Natsuki Kruger, my Girlfriend." Shizuru said as she stood beside Natsuki in front of her parents. There was a dead silence for a few seconds before Sumika rose from her seat and hugged the bluenette. "Natsuki-chan is so cute! Why didn't you bring her before Shizuru-chan?"_

_Katashi Viola came towards his daughter with a smile, "Good job Shizuru-chan. You inherited your good taste in women from me of course." Shizuru laughed, "Of course father." The Viola's all found Natsuki's blushing cheeks to be extremely cute. It must've been something in their genes. "Look! She's blushing!" Sumika said with a soft laughter._

"_Ara, Mother shouldn't be so cruel with my Natsuki. You will make her blush more and then she'll faint! I can't have my girlfriend and guest faint in my own home now can I?" Shizuru said teasingly as she wrapped her arms around Natsuki's waist. Sumika Viola was a tall, slender woman who's beauty was only heightened by her years. Her chestnut tresses were darker than Shizuru's, yet she emitted an aura of elegance that could not be missed, similar to Shizuru's. Katashi was also tall and muscular with dark short hair which began to show some gray as well with his short beard and mustache that adorned the soft features of his face. His eyes were of the same shade of crimson as Shizuru's while Sumika's eyes were a light-blue shade._

"_Welcome to my family Natsuki-chan," Katashi said with a warm smile. Shizuru felt Natsuki relax in her hold instantly. Natsuki had been adamant about meeting Shizuru's parents for a long time, fearing that she would be rejected and that the parents would try to break them up, but after a couple of heated-make out sessions and similar tactics, Natsuki had agreed._

"Natsuki-san, please come to the front and demonstrate how to change the state of this ice to water and then again to ice." The teacher asked after noticing that Natsuki was daydreaming again. Natsuki groaned and made her way to the front where a small cup of ice sat on the table. She quickly recited a spell and changed it to liquid matter, and then quickly reverted it to ice.

"Thank you Natsuki-san for the demonstration. Now go back to your seat and stop daydreaming." Natsuki ignored the old man as she went back to her seat. She was the top in her class, the best ice manipulator there was, so why was he being such a pain? Natsuki reclined back onto her chair as her mind once again drifted off.

While Shizuru's parents had been accepting and supporting of their relationship, her own parent's weren't. In their society, same-sex couples were not viewed as immoral or wrong by most people, yet there were still those who believe that the traditions should not be broken, and her family was one of those traditionalists.

"_Please pass the salad Natsuki." Saeko asked as she extended her hand out to Natsuki. Her heart pounding loudly, Natsuki's shaky hand delivered the salad as she cleared her throat, "Mother, Father, There is something I must tell you."_

_Mitsuo looked up to his daughter with a concerned look after hearing his daughter's nervous voice, "What is it Natsuki-chan?"_

_Natsuki turned to look at her mother's emerald eyes who stared at her waiting for what she had to say, "I-I…I'm dating someone." she stuttered as she felt herself shrinking from her mother's glare._

"_And who's the lucky chap?" Mitsuo asked from his daughter. He was a well-built man with dark hair that went down to his shoulders. Saeko was like a mirror image of an older Natsuki._

"_Ano…it's not a guy, but a girl." Natsuki replied softly, almost to a whisper, but her parents heard her. Saeko's face became red from anger as Mitsuo stood up from his chair and walked over to his wife. "Saeko, we'll talk in the room." Saeko stood up from her chair roughly before turning away without saying a word to Natsuki. Mitsuo glanced towards Natsuki to see tears rolling down her cheeks, but said nothing._

Ever since that night, neither of her parents had even mentioned anything related to the topic, nor had Natsuki. She had explained to Shizuru what had occurred and she had understood completely. The topic was never again brought up after that night and Natsuki had decided that they just needed time to take it all down.

**-BELL RING-**

"You are dismissed." The teacher said as the students bolted from their seats to leave. Natsuki quickly picked up her bag and exited the classroom to find Nao waiting for her.

"Listen up Natsuki. We have a problem." Nao said as she followed the bluenette. "What is it?" Natsuki asked not really paying attention since the red-head would most likely just start complaining about Nina or Shiho. "I heard that Miss Maria has arranged an assembly right after next period and she's gonna use a truth-telling spell to find out who vandalized the property!"

Natsuki spun around with a shocked face, "Are you fucking kidding? If I get in trouble one more time I will be expelled!"

"So will I, you baka! We need to do something!" Nao retorted as they walked towards Natsuki's locker. "Wait, I have an idea! That spell forces a person to answer a question truthfully right?" Nao asked as a solution brewed in her head.

"Yes. What's your idea?" Natsuki asked as she tried coming up with her own plan since Nao would probably say something useless.

"Well, will it work if when the question is asked, your mouth is occupied doing _something_ else?" Natsuki turned to look at the red-head who had a smirk on her face as she emphasized the word 'something.' "I never thought I would say this to you, but that's actually a good plan." Natsuki said as she shut her locker.

"Then make sure you are occupied when she asks, because if you go down, so will I." Natsuki said before she stopped in her last class. "Sounds good, you too make sure to have fun with Shizuru. Don't mess this great idea of mine up okay?" Nao said before leaving to her own class.

Natsuki walked into her class and smiled when she saw Shizuru already on her seat next to her own. "Hey Shizuru." She said as she took her seat. "Hi Natsuki." Shizuru replied as she sat a small folded note on Natsuki's desk.

Natsuki opened it slowly as she glanced and found a mischievous smile on Shizuru's lips as she watched her open the note.

_This weekend will be amazing. I am sure my grandparents will love you as much as my parents do, but of course not as much as me. I will make sure that it is a memorable weekend._

_S._

Natsuki looked up with a faint blush to meet Shizuru's crimson eyes. _'A memorable weekend? Why do I get the sense that there is something hidden behind that teasing smile?'_Natsuki's thoughts were interrupted when Yohko entered the classroom to teach.

The class went smoothly, and for Natsuki, agonizingly slow. She just wanted to get out, get over the assembly without getting caught and spend the weekend with Shizuru. Every so often, Shizuru would glance towards Natsuki and smile softly before returning her attention to the medical-class teacher.

"_Students. Please report to the main auditorium immediately after the bell. You will be dismissed from there for your weekend break but you are all required to attend this short assembly."_The intercom clicked off as students began to chatter about what the assembly was about.

Shizuru leaned in towards Natsuki and found the bluenette nervously twitching her pen in her hand. "Ara, is Natsuki okay?" She whispered, making Natsuki's pen to fly out from her hand and was about to hit Chie on the back of her head when a soft breeze of wind made it fall to the ground instead of hitting the girl. Aoi, master of air element, only glanced back with a smile.

"Ara ara, I am getting a feeling that Natsuki is nervous about the assembly?" Shizuru asked in a soft whisper so that others wouldn't hear them. Natsuki chuckled, "What makes you think that?" Shizuru only shrugged before planting a quick kiss on Natsuki's cheek and straightening herself in her seat. Natsuki smiled timidly as she continued to stare at Shizuru. No matter what Shizuru did, was it shrug, or lean halfway out of her desk, she always made it look like the most feminine thing in the world. Her grace was one of the many things that attracted Natsuki to Shizuru.

**-BELL RING-**

"You are dismissed, remember to go to the assembly." Yohko said as the students left. "Shizuru, do you need to sit with the student council or can you sit with me?" Natsuki asked as she walked down the hall with Shizuru hand-in-hand. "How can I possibly say no to such a cute girl like you?" Shizuru teased, "Of course I can sit with you."

"Thanks." Natsuki said relieved. If Shizuru would've had to sit with the student council, her plan would've gone down the drain since there was no way she'd do that with anyone else that wasn't Shizuru.

The students all rushed into the auditorium hoping that the assembly would end soon. "Thank you for coming. I will make this as quick as possible," Miss Maria said as she came up on the stage, "As you remember, this morning I told you all about the vandalizing that occurred yesterday. Since we have been unable to find the one's guilty for this crime, I have decided to use the truth-teller spell to find out who did it. Be aware that those responsible for the crime will be punished severely with the full weight of the law."

Natsuki shifted on her seat uncomfortably as she glanced around and found Nao sitting a few seats away from her with Nina. _'Okay, this better work. If not, I'm so screwed.'_Natsuki thought as she turned towards Shizuru. "Shizuru…" She said softly as she leaned in towards the brunette. Shizuru smiled sweetly, mirth full in her eyes, "Yes Na-tsu-ki?"

Natsuki grinned, _'Yes! When she says my name like that it means she's in the mood for making out.'_Shizuru could hear the Headmistress starting to recite the spell. _'My Natsuki thinks she can trick me? I know it was she and Nao who did the spray-painting.'_Natsuki glanced towards Nao and saw she had already started her part with Nina, _'Crap. Crap. I have to do it now before she asks the question.'_

Natsuki leaned in to capture Shizuru's lips in her own, but Shizuru backed away slightly, "Ara, Natsuki is feeling a little horny today ne?"

"Now. If you vandalize the property, say 'ME' right now." Miss Maria ordered. Natsuki's eyes widened in surprise as she felt the magic working in her. She opened her mouth to speak but Shizuru got her before she could.

Natsuki moaned lightly into the brunette's mouth. The faint taste of green tea was evident in Shizuru's mouth as their kiss intensified. Natsuki could feel the magic of the spell began to disappear slowly as the auditorium was filled with mindless chatter and anticipation for who was going to give in. Slowly, the magic completely disappeared and Shizuru backed away for breath.

"Ookini Natsuki." Shizuru said as her cheeks were slightly pink, but not a match to Natsuki's flushed face. "No, thank you." Natsuki said before Miss Maria sighed into the microphone, "Very well, it appears that our academy is not guilty of this. I am glad to know this. You are all dismissed." Nobody had seen the girls making out since they were sitting behind a large group of rowdy students who didn't give space for the girls to be seen.

Nao hurried to catch up with Natsuki before they left the auditorium. "Good job Mutt." She said as she high-fived Natsuki. "You too spider," Natsuki replied before leaving with Shizuru.

"Natsuki-chan!" Sumika greeted with excitement as Natsuki entered Viola mansion. "I'm so glad you can come with us to papa's house." Shizuru's mother said as she hugged the bluenette.

"Thank you for inviting me Sumika-san." Natsuki replied as she bowed down in respect to the older woman. "No sense! You are my baby's girlfriend! You are welcome with us whenever you want." Sumika said smiling.

"Is everyone ready?" Katashi asked as he entered the house. He had taken Natsuki's and Shizuru's suitcases from his daughter's car and placed them on the family jeep that they were traveling in. "One second father, I need to get my skiing jacket from my room." Shizuru said and turned to Natsuki, "I will be right back." Natsuki nodded.

"So…" Katashi started as he sat on the large sofa and motioned for Natsuki to sit. "Have you been good to my daughter?" He asked as Natsuki sat across from him. Sumika had come to sit beside her husband. "Ye-yes sir!" Natsuki responded nervously since she wasn't expecting a parental interrogation.

"Good Natsuki-chan, because we would hate to see Shizuru-san hurt." Sumika said with a faint trace of warning in her voice. "No, I would never do anything to hurt Shizuru." Natsuki reaffirmed them, "I love your daughter and I promise to protect her and love her."

Shizuru felt her heart warm up at the words she heard as she came down the flight of stairs. "Ready?" She asked as she came into the room where her parents were talking with Natsuki. "Let's go!" Katashi exclaimed with glee as he stood from his seat and lent his hand to Sumika. Shizuru did the same as she stood in front of Natsuki. "Thank you, what a fine gentleman you are." Natsuki teased as she took Shizuru's hand. Shizuru blushed before leaning in to whisper into her ear, "Don't think I've forgotten about your criminal activities my dear."

Natsuki chuckled nervously before Shizuru pulled her away towards the car where her parents were waiting. "Okay girls, were off to papa's house!" Sumika announced as Katashi began to drive.

The two hour drive flew by quickly with endless "Natsuki-Teasing", as it had become known to the Viola family, and joking around. By the time they arrived, Natsuki felt all her brain cells must've been killed due to the high temperature her face had endured for two hours.

Natsuki watched in awe at the large mansion. It wasn't as big Shizuru's parents or her own mansion, but what amazed her was the architecture of the house. It was built like a large cabin, with logs being used to decorate the exterior as if it really was made of plain wood. Large pine trees enriched the mountain-cabin look as they surrounded the house in perfect order. The snow-laden mountains and the creek that resonated near, made the place seem almost magical. "Do you like it Natsuki?" Shizuru asked as she came up beside Natsuki. "Yea, it's amazing!" Natsuki replied, her emerald eyes full with childlike wonder. "Well, we better go inside to meet my grandparents before they come out for us." Shizuru said as she took Natsuki's hand and lead her inside, "Oh, and Natsuki, perhaps I should warn you that my grandparents are a tad bit…extravagant. Especially my grandmother."

"Oh, okay," Natsuki said, a little surprised about her girlfriend's warning. Shizuru only smiled and went inside. The house was as splendid inside as it was outside. A large fireplace stood in the living room and provided them with warmth. Various animal heads were hanging around the place as trophies.

A tall man with pearl white hair appeared with a pipe in his hand. Beside him, a shorter woman with short hair that matched his own, smiled pleasantly as the Violas and Natsuki came into the house. "Ojiisan!" Shizuru said as she went over to her grandfather to hug him. The couple did not look past their forties apart from their white hair, but Natsuki guessed it was because of magic. The Viola family was one of the oldest and most powerful in the land of Windbloom and of all Earl, so she was not surprised that their use of magic had few limits. "How is my girl Shizu-chan doing?" Hiro asked as he hugged his granddaughter. "I'm doing good Ojiisan." Shizuru replied as she went over to hug her grandmother who had already moved to greet Katashi and Sumika. Kamiko extended her hand towards Natsuki, "Kamiko Viola. Pleasure to meet you Miss…"

"Natsuki Kruger. It's a pleasure to meet you too Viola-san." Natsuki responded as she took the hand and shook it lightly. Hiro came towards Natsuki, "So, you are the Natsuki we have heard so much about! So good to finally meet you!" He hugged the bluenette with a strong grip. '_Wow, All of Shizuru's family is really welcoming and sweet. Very energetic as well!'_Natsuki thought as Hiro put her down. "Anybody whom Shizuru loves, we love too." He stated as he lead them all into the residence. "How about you all get settled and then we can have dinner. We have a very special day planned tomorrow for Shizu-chan's birthday, so we will go to bed early tonight so we are all rested okay?" Kamiko said without leaving any room for discussion, not that anyone wanted to argue with her in the first place. Sumika and Katashi went into a room and began to unpack for their weekend as Kamiko led the girls farther down the hallway. "This room is for you Natsuki-san." She said as she gave Shizuru a look that told her 'while-you're-in-my-house-you-better-not-attempt-anything.'

Shizuru smiled knowingly as she left towards her own room that was across the hall from Natsuki's. "Arigato Viola-san." Natsuki thanked as she entered the guest room. It was larger than she had expected, and had fur carpets on the floor and was decorated with wildlife portraits and figurines. "Call me Kamiko. You are dating my granddaughter, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to." Kamiko said before leaving. Natsuki sighed as she laid on the bed, _'I'm so glad Shizuru's grandparents already knew about us and they are okay with it. I have enough with my folks at home to deal with, so this is a nice change.'_

Natsuki got up from the bed and began to unpack her suitcase. "_Na-tsu-ki_" Natsuki smiled as Shizuru wrapped her arms around her waist from behind. "Hi Shizuru." She replied, her face beginning to blush as Shizuru kissed her neck. "Should we he-head down now?" Natsuki stuttered, her face burning from Shizuru's nibbling at her neck. Shizuru continued until Natsuki moaned slightly. "Yea, let's go." Shizuru said as she released Natsuki and left to go downstairs.

'_Oh my god. She just got me all worked up for nothing. You're going to pay Shizuru!'_Natsuki grumbled as she followed Shizuru downstairs. "Obasan, do you need any help?" Shizuru asked walking into the kitchen, where her mother and grandmother were, as Natsuki trailed behind. "Oh, sure Shizu-chan. Thank you." Kamiko replied as she turned, and her eyes widened when she saw a bright hickey in Natsuki's creamy neck. Natsuki met Kamiko's gaze and realized the older woman was looking straight at her neck. _'What? Do I have monkeys on my face?'_She touched her neck, and then it clicked. _'Shit!Shit!Shit! Shizuru must've left a hickey on my neck!'_"Ano…Shizuru…" Natsuki said trying to get her girlfriend's attention who was cutting celery on the chopping board. The brunette turned and found a blushing Natsuki with a hand to her neck and her grandmother glaring at her. "Natsuki, why don't you join Ojiisan and father on the living room? We know what happens when you cook, so don't worry about it."

"Hai." Natsuki nodded quickly and left, dashing up to her room quickly to put on something that would cover her. "Ara, Natsuki seems quite excited to be here." Sumika said as she stirred the soup. Kamiko turned and glared to her granddaughter before returning to her cooking.

"So what are your plans after you graduate Fuuka?" asked Kamiko glancing at Shizuru. "Well, I plan to attend college and then join my father in the company." Shizuru answered confidently. The Viola family owned one of the largest technological magic company. Developing new gadgets that allowed for safe and easy use of magic. They also designed security systems against dark magic and such entities.

"I see. And what about Natsuki-san? What does she plan to do?" Sumika knew where the conversation was going as her mother-in-law kept asking questions, but decided to see how Shizuru would handle it. If Shizuru expected to be successful in the company and in life in general, she would have to deal with a lot worse than Kamiko. "As you probably know, the Krugers own the weapon company of Windbloom, so she plans on going into the family business as well." Shizuru answered without turning to Kamiko. The older woman huffed, "The Kruger Weapon Company? That company has no future in the peaceful world that we are trying to make with our products. Therefore she has no future. Do you want to have someone that will live off of you? A leech?"

"I will _not_ allow you to speak of Natsuki like that." Shizuru snapped as she turned fully towards the white-haired woman. Shizuru's wine-colored eyes were now filled with fury, "If you have a problem with her tell me now so that we can leave. I do not wish to trouble you in your own home."

"Wait." Kamiko said, regretting her words, "I don't want you to leave, I just want what's best for you." Sumika decided it was time she intervened, "Kamiko, my daughter will be eighteen tomorrow, and she is mature and wise enough to know what's best for her. Natsuki is a great girl and if they love each other, that's enough for their happiness. Everything else will fall in place overtime."

Shizuru smiled thankfully to her mother. "I understand. Please forgive my intrusion Shizu-chan. I didn't mean to upset you." Kamiko apologized, and Shizuru hugged her. "It's okay Obasan. I forgive you."

_Meanwhile, in the living room…_

"No WAY!!!" Hiro exclaimed as he jumped from his seat and dragged Natsuki away with Katashi following behind them with an amused grin.

"Look!" Hiro opened the door to a large room that was kept locked, and Natsuki gasped. "It's-It's amazing!" When Natsuki had returned to the living room after putting on a turtleneck sweater, they had begun to make pointless small talk, until the subject turned to guns. Turns out, Hiro was a weapon-aficionado and loved collecting all types of weapons, from old and new to harmless and deathly. Katashi wasn't so much into weapons himself, but either way found it amusing that his father had finally found someone who shared his obsession.

The room's walls were crowded with weapons hanging from plaques and cases. There were various stands in the room that encased more of the precious ones that were too old to be handled or too dangerous. "Here is my life's work." Hiro announced proudly as they entered the room. "This is even bigger than my dad's, and he's obsessed with weapons!" Natsuki said as she moved around the room checking out the guns. Most of them were weapons from the old world. She recognized some guns and rifles along with swords and spears from the one's her father owned, "Oh wow! You own a Magnum S&W M500! I've always wanted one of those but I never was able to find one. Those are from the old world right?" Hiro nodded enthusiastically, "Yep, yep. The last one of its kind in our world. So you'll never find one!" He said as he laughed, his deep laughter echoing through the room, "Hey, perhaps I'll give it to you for a wedding gift if you marry Shizu-chan!" Natsuki blushed at Hiro's comment, making Katashi to join in the laughter.

"Dinner's ready." Sumika announced as she peeked through the door. "Hai, Hai!" They said before following her into the dining room.

Everyone took a seat on the table and began to eat. "Kamiko, can you believe Natsuki-kun is into guns like me? I finally found someone who's awesome like me!" Hiro said, eliciting laughter from the family. "Ara, did Ojiisan show Natsuki his weapons?" Shizuru asked, guessing he had since Natsuki's face was shining with excitement. "Yea he did! He's got a collection larger than Otosan!" Natsuki replied happily.

The rest of the dinner passed quickly, and they soon retreated to their rooms. Shizuru gave Natsuki a quick good-night kiss before Kamiko came up to make sure they were all in their rooms.

'_I can't wait for tomorrow. I hope she likes her gift…'_ Natsuki wondered as she laid in her bed ready to sleep.

The blinding rays of sunlight filtered through the window and awoke Shizuru. _'I'm eighteen now!'_Shizuru made her way to the bathroom to get ready. After a quick shower, she dressed with a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. _'Ara, I wonder if everyone's still sleeping…'_ Shizuru walked down the hallways towards the stairs and didn't hear a single sound. Frowning, she decided she would wait for them in the living room while they woke up. She couldn't even go wake up Natsuki because she had seen her grandmother put a lock spell on Natsuki's door that would only allow it to be opened from inside, and Natsuki would still probably be sleeping.

As she walked into the living room, a blaring sound came up from around her as large speakers became visible and began to play a 'Happy Birthday' tune. She smiled and found her whole family, including Natsuki, standing around a large cake and many birthday decorations around them. Sumika had thought the childish decorations might've been too much, but Kamiko had none of it and said Shizuru would always be her little girl.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIZURU!"

Everyone took turns to hug the birthday girl, with Natsuki waiting to go last. "Happy Birthday love," Natsuki said before kissing Shizuru. The kiss was short since Kamiko began to feign coughing and the girls understood. "Thank you so much everyone, this really means a lot to me." Shizuru said with a grin. "Well then, let's eat this big ol' cake for breakfast!" Hiro offered and they all did.

"Okay. Ready?" Natsuki asked, prepared to launch as Shizuru's arms tightened around her waist. They had all gone out to ski, but Natsuki was soon bored with the normal skiing, so she decided to add a bit of _extreme_ to it. "Remember, don't let go for any reason." Shizuru shook her head. They were using only one pair of skis so it made it difficult for them to move, but since they were on the top of the mountain, it gave them the gravity pull. Natsuki's grin was wide as she pushed them over, and as they descended on the snow at accelerating speeds, Natsuki did what she was taught to do. Reciting a quick spell, she made an alternating ice pathway that took them around the mountain swirling. Shizuru's arms became tightened around Natsuki but the bluenette was not bothered. The adrenaline in her body was overwhelming as the ice road she had created took them around and around like a rollercoaster.

"Ara, are those the girls?" Sumika asked as she looked up to a pair of screaming girls who were traveling on an almost invisible road that was above the ground. "Yep. That's them." Katashi said before he once again dashed away in his ski. Hiro was beside him in his own ski, and with a glance towards his son, a wind current knocked him off and threw him onto the snow. "Father!" Katashi called out from the snow and with a wave of his hand, sent a fire wave towards the old man, melting the snow from under him and making him fall on his face. "Cheater!" Hiro called back with a grin as he pulled himself up, "I have raised you well."

"Na-Natsuki." Shizuru said as she became dizzy with all the twirls. "Yea?" Natsuki asked, not realizing Shizuru's nausea. "I'm getting dizzy…" She said, but before Natsuki could stop their ride, Shizuru glanced down towards their ice road and accidentally released a fire wave. "Shizuru!" Natsuki tried to evade the gap in their road, but before she could make more ice to cover it up, they were falling down from thousands of feet in altitude.

"AHHH!" They both screamed as they saw the floor coming quickly towards them. Natsuki realized they were going to crash onto the frozen lake, and quickly waved her hand with a quick spell. The girls crashed into freezing water.

"The girls!" The adults quickly hurried over to the lake after hearing their screams and found Shizuru swimming towards the shore with an unconscious Natsuki in her arms. "Shizuru! What happened?" Katashi asked as he kneeled beside the girls. "I'm okay father, but Natsuki fainted." Shizuru said as she hovered her hands over Natsuki as heat radiated onto the bluenette. Shizuru was not troubled by the cold since her fire element took care of her warmth.

"Uhhh…" Natsuki's eyes slowly opened as she found herself underneath a plain-white ceiling. _'Did I die?'_

She turned her head to find a pair of crimson eyes looking at her as Shizuru smiled with relief. _'I'm in heaven! And Shizuru is my angel!'_

"Ara, Natsuki had too much fun." Shizuru teased as she stood up from the chair and took a seat on Natsuki's bed. "Gomen Shizuru. I didn't mean to ruin your birthday…" Natsuki said with a frown, but Shizuru shook her head, "No, you didn't ruin it. Your sole presence makes me happy. Besides, we still have time today and tomorrow."

"Thank you." Natsuki said as she took Shizuru's hand, "Oh, by the way. I have a surprise for you." Shizuru smiled mischievously as she raised her eyebrow, "Really? I wonder what it is…" She leaned down and began to kiss Natsuki passionately. Their make-out session was interrupted by loud knocks.

"How is Natsuki-kun doing?" Hiro asked as he popped his head inside after Shizuru opened the door for him. "She's doing better Ojiisan. Thank you." Shizuru answered as Natsuki waved to him from the bed. "Good, because I need to speak with her." Shizuru glanced over to Natsuki before nodding, "Alright."

She exited the room as her grandfather closed the door behind him. "So Natsuki-kun, are you still feeling up for what we planned?" Natsuki nodded, "Yes! Of course. I apologize for that little incident earlier." Hiro chuckled, "Don't worry kid. Now we have to make sure that everything goes good for Shizu-chan. I already talked with Katashi so he went to make sure everything is ready. Sumika will make sure that Kamiko doesn't go crazy or anything either. So now it's all up to you to make this a good birthday for her."

Hiro saluted the bluenette, "Good luck soldier!" Natsuki giggled as she saluted him back, "Thank you General."

"Shizu-chan!" Hiro called out as he exited the room and found Shizuru waiting outside. "How about we have a bonfire? We could go to the cabin." Hiro proposed. "That would be splendid Ojiisan. Natsuki will love it." Shizuru said but was confused when her grandfather smirked and said between a chuckle, "I bet she will!"

"Here's the keys." Katashi handed over the keys to the jeep to his daughter, "Your grandfather and I will drive in his truck because we have to wait until your grandmother and Sumika are ready." Shizuru was confused, "We could wait for you."

"No, no, you guys go ahead." Hiro quickly said as he opened the door to the jeep and motioned for his granddaughter to enter. "Okay then, we will see you there." Shizuru gave in and entered the car. It was already dark out as the moon shined brightly. "Are you sure we should? I don't want Natsuki getting cold…" Natsuki shook her head, "No I won't get cold. Let's please go."

Hiro and Katashi both waved the couple off as they left the driveway and drove towards the cabin that Hiro owned beside the lake. "Are you sure you had everything set up?" Hiro asked his son. "Yes father! I told you a thousand times already! Besides, I didn't do much. Remember Natsuki went with me this morning before my mother woke up. So she's got it all down." Katashi replied as he walked back into the house.

"Well, now let's make sure to keep your mom here." Hiro commented as he shut the door with a strong lock spell to make sure Kamiko wouldn't go after them. When she finds out the special night that Natsuki had arranged with their help, she would most likely go on a rampage to 'save her little girl's purity.' Not even Sumika was that worried. She knew that Shizuru was old enough to do as she wished, and was more than happy to help Natsuki in her plan.

"Here we are." Shizuru announced as she parked the jeep in front of the cabin. It was a small cabin with one room and a kitchen and a living room. It overlooked the lake, that was now slowly starting to refreeze after Natsuki had changed its state to save them from a certain death, or at least a lot of pain.

It was not the first time Natsuki had seen the cabin since she had visited it that morning, but with the moon reflecting over the lake, it was a whole different view. "I wonder how much longer they'll take…" Shizuru mused unlocking the door as Natsuki came up from behind.

Turning the lights on, Shizuru gasped as a trail of red and white rose petals started and lead deeper into the cabin. She turned around and found Natsuki grinning, "Surprise!"

"Ara, Natsuki…I…I don't know what to say…" Shizuru said as she looked around the small cabin. Candles adorned the entire home as they released the pleasant smell of roses. "Well, there is no need for words." Natsuki wrapped her arms around Shizuru as she kissed her. "I'm guessing there won't be a bonfire tonight after all." Shizuru commented as she hesitantly pulled away.

"That's correct." Natsuki replied as she led Shizuru into the living room where a pair of champagne glasses stood on the table along with a bottle of champagne. "You like?" Natsuki asked sitting down on the floor next to the table as Shizuru did the same beside her. The floor was covered with fur carpet like the house since Hiro was a hunter.

"Aren't you too young to drink?" Shizuru asked teasingly as Natsuki served the alcohol. In Windbloom the minimum age to drink was eighteen. Natsuki laughed as she handed the brunette a glass, "I don't think so."

"Fine, but I shall not be held responsible for your well being." Shizuru said as she took sip. "I won't hurt myself," Natsuki said but Shizuru shook her head as she smiled mischievously, "I mean when _I_get drunk."

Natsuki blushed darkly, "We-Well, I have something for you." She pulled a small box from her jacket and presented it to Shizuru, "Happy Birthday." Shizuru took the box and smiled, seeing Natsuki's emerald eyes fill with excitement and glee. She carefully unwrapped the small box and found a heart-shaped pendant with a pair of twin gold necklaces. The golden heart had the two names engraved on them,_Shizuru_and _Natsuki,_with a small ruby stone placed beside Shizuru's name, and an emerald one placed beside Natsuki's.

"A-ara, Natsuki..I…" Shizuru stuttered as her eyes glazed with joyful tears. "Look, here's the best part," Natsuki grabbed the small heart and broke it in the middle with ease, since it was prearranged to be split, "You can have my name and I'll have yours, and our hearts will only be complete when their together."

Shizuru's eyes were filled with gratitude and overwhelming with love as Natsuki took the side of the heart that said _Natsuki_ and placed it around her neck. Shizuru did the same with the _Shizuru_side of the heart and placed it on Natsuki's neck. Shizuru could not longer wait, the feeling of love and want began to boil inside of her. Never had she dreamed that she would be lucky enough to have the love of a girl as loving and kind as Natsuki.

"I love you Shizuru…" Natsuki softly caressed Shizuru's cheek before pulling her towards her lips. Natsuki could feel the love, the want, the everything inside of Shizuru in their kiss. Their hearts took control of the night as they gave themselves to each other, enjoying every kiss, every touch, every second that they were together. Their minds were cleared from anything that wasn't each other.

That night, they truly loved for the first time.

**-RING-RING-RING-**

The insistent ringing of a cell phone awoke Shizuru. She tried to move but was unable to when she felt Natsuki's naked body against her own. The bluenette's arms were around her as their legs were tangled around each other's. _'Wow…last night was…amazing!'_She thought as the memories of the night she had spent with Natsuki came back towards her. The ringing kept going, and she carefully raised herself up without disturbing Natsuki's sleep.

'_Ara, I feel so tired…My muscles are all sore as if I had run a hundred miles or something…'_The exhaustion made her dizzy for a second as she tried to steady herself with the help of the sofa. She blushed as she glanced around the living room, since they hadn't been able to make it to the bedroom, and saw their clothes lying around in a wild mess. The candles had run out and champagne glasses were tipped over carelessly.

"Hello?" She answered the phone sleepily. "_Shizu-chan! What happened are you okay_?" Katashi asked nervously. "We're okay father…what's wrong?" Shizuru replied as she glanced over to Natsuki and found she was still sleeping peacefully. The sun that emerged from the window and showered her with light made her seem almost divine.

"_Do you realize it's two in the afternoon?! Your grandmother is going crazy and we won't be able to hold her back for much longer, so I'm sorry but you're going to have to come back as soon as possible, preferably within the next thirty minutes."_Shizuru eyes widened, "Two in the afternoon? Wow, it's the first time in my life I've overslept! We'll be there soon." She flipped her phone off and made her way to the bathroom quickly. Since the bathroom was in the bedroom, she passed by the bed and saw it was also filled with petals and a small suitcase was on the side of it. She went to it quickly and was relieved to find some of her clothing and Natsuki's in the bag. _'Natsuki sure was prepared for this.'_She picked out some clothes and rushed into the shower.

The sound of water hitting against ceramic tile awoke Natsuki. A smile appeared in her lips as she recalled their night of passion, but her eye's snapped open when she felt around and didn't find Shizuru. "Shizuru?" She called out as she sat up from the floor, her muscles also sore and weakness taking over her. She heard the water in the shower, _'What time is it?'_She looked around and found a clock hanging on the wall. "Crap!" She jumped up and rushed into the bathroom, "Mind if I join you?"

Shizuru grinned, "Good morning to you too Natsuki." She moved over so that Natsuki could enter the bathroom. They had thirty minutes, and they were going to take full advantage of every single minute.

The rest of their Sunday went smoothly. When they got back to the house, Kamiko glared at them every single chance she got, while Hiro, Katashi, and Sumika smirked. They had gone back home later that afternoon since the girls had school the next day. Before they left, Hiro had congratulated Natsuki while Kamiko only kept glaring. She had been furious to find out her own husband, son, and daughter-in-law had gone behind her back to help some girl take away Shizuru's purity, but Hiro had warned her about making a scene. He had told her that they were old enough to do whatever they wanted, and since Sumika nor Katashi had any problem with it, then she shouldn't either.

Nao's fury began to grow as she knocked on the door over and over again, "Natsuki! Get your ass out of the bathroom right now! You've been in there for the last half-hour! Don't you think I need to use it too?" The two shared a dorm in the academy, and while they had never had any major issues, Nao's patience was wearing extremely thin. Natsuki had never taken this long in the bathroom before.

Nao's face distorted with disgust when she heard gagging sounds coming from the bathroom. "Na-Natsuki…are you okay?" She asked concerned. _'Fine, I didn't want to do this, but…'_ She used a spell to create a metal key and opened the door. She found Natsuki vomiting on the toilet, "Natsuki!" The redhead rushed over to hold Natsuki's hair away from her face so she wouldn't get it over herself. After a few more minutes of what seemed endless-vomiting, Natsuki pushed Nao out of the bathroom without a word and began to shower.

'_..No. IT CAN'T BE HAPPENING!'_Natsuki felt her eyes burn as tears threatened to come out. _'It's only been two days, maybe I'm sick…I've got a stomach virus or something…there must be something else…'_But no, Natsuki knew the truth. She had heard the same speech multiple of times during school. It was required for a reason. She knew that unlike old world women who showed signs of pregnancy after six or more weeks, women in the new world did it within days. _'I can't be…I can't be…My parents would kill me…'_She felt her knees give out from underneath her as she slid to the ceramic floor. ".Baka!" She muttered over and over to herself as she pounded her fists on the wall. _'Why didn't I recite the spell? Why?! I've been taught to recite it throughout my life, I know it by heart. It's burned into my thick skull, and yet I forgot! How could I?!'_

When Natsuki came out from the shower, Nao was standing outside waiting. After putting two and two together, she knew what was happening.

"Natsuki…You're Pregnant!"

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**A/N: !!! Okay, I know you probably are like "WTF?!" But all will be explained. This isn't the first story featuring them having an unexpected pregnancy, but this is not mainly about all the magic, which was necessary for them to be able to do it, but more about their troubles. I know that today in our society there are many teenage parents that have to go through a lot of hardships, and I just wanted to see how Shizuru and Natsuki would deal with it. I also wanted to give Shizuru a break from always being the one to get pregnant, and give Natsuki a chance to get some fun :P All your questions will be answered soon, but if you have any questions in particular, please do ask me. Review and tell me what you think, and wether it's worth continuing. I really appreciate all the feedback so please review. Once again, thank you :)**

**Ookami Z.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, here I am again :P First, I want to give a HUGE thank to all of you who read the first chapter and especially to those who reviewed it. You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that people like this idea :D **

**This is a shorter chapter than last time but I hope you still like it :D **

**Enjoy!**

**A/N: 3.25.10= I went over this and ATTEMPTED to edit this AGAIN. I read it over and found some mistakes again. wow. i need a real beta or something lol :P any one wanna help? :)**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-HiME/Mai-Otome or their characters. I do own this story and my characters.**

**_Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always_**

**2**

"_I hate you!" Shizuru screamed with anger, "You have ruined my life!"_

"_No Shizuru! Please! Don't leave me!" Natsuki's pleads fell on deaf ears as Shizuru turned around and left her. The silhouette of the love of her life disappeared in thick fog as tears raced down her face. Natsuki was left alone in the darkness of her world without Shizuru. _

-------

"SHIZURU!" Natsuki bolted up from her bed as sweat beads gathered in her face. The nightmare had been so real that she could feel the pain still clenching her heart. Confusion and terror grappled her as she wondered whether her dream was a premonition as to how Shizuru would react once she found out about her pregnancy.

"Natsuki?! Are you okay?" Nao asked with worry as she opened the bluenette's door and entered the room. "What happened?" Natsuki asked realizing she was lying in her bed. "You fainted when you came out from the shower so I brought you in here." Nao replied sitting beside Natsuki.

"So tell me," Nao began as she tried to search Natsuki's eyes, "are you pregnant?" Natsuki's mouth became dry instantly at the question. Nao saw the fear in the emerald orbs which confirmed her suspicions. In their world, people did not get sick for any reason whatsoever since their magical abilities kept them healthy, and only pregnant women showed signs of sickness. Nao, like every human in their world, had been taught about pregnancy and how to prevent it from an early age since unplanned pregnancies were something that was looked down upon and highly unwanted.

Natsuki did not answer and turned to look at the clock, noticing it was already noon, "Damn it spider, we missed our morning classes." Nao shook her head, "No, don't try to change the subject mutt. This is very serious and you know it." Natsuki sighed and lowered her gaze towards the carpeted floor, "Please don't tell anyone…"

"What about Shizuru? She must know, that _is_ her child right?" Nao asked with a sly smile, making Natsuki blush, "Of course you baka! But I will tell her myself."

"Fine. It is your place to tell her, not mine. Your secret is safe with me, but you won't be able to hide it for long." Nao said as she stood up from the bed, "And if you're feeling better, we better go right now so we can catch some lunch and our afternoon classes. I don't want Miss Maria up my ass about skipping again." Natsuki smiled as she stood, "Thank you Nao."

Nao rolled her eyes, "Whatever mutt. Don't get all emotional with me." Natsuki laughed and heard Nao mutter as she left, "Damn pregnant women and their hormones."

-------

Shizuru looked up to the clock and watched it intently as the thin hand went ever-so-slowly towards the twelve.

The sound of pages turning resounded softly through the room as Midori continued her teaching. "Although the science and technology in our world, incorporated with the magical abilities that exist in our society, birth pains have not been able to be decreased much from the those old world women suffered." Shizuru was able to tune out Midori's lesson easily since she had heard the lesson many times before during her school career. She focused her attention to the images on the book before her. Many diagrams were scattered over the book, but her attention turned to the one that showed the pregnancy stages. _'Ara, it must've been a pain for women in the old world to carry around a child for nine months. I guess we're lucky that pregnancies only last four and a half months for us. Half the time the old world humans took to develop. No wonder they didn't survive for long.' _She mused inwardly as she turned the page. A picture of a pink haired woman took the entirety of the page with a caption underneath.

_Fumi Himeno. Founder._

Shizuru was brought back from her reverie as the bell rang. Midori looked up from her book and nodded, "Dismissed."

Shizuru raised herself quickly and placed her books away. _'I wonder what happened to Natsuki…' _She had been worried all morning since Natsuki had not shown up for class, and although the bluenette was usually late, she always made it. _'I wonder if something happened…' _Her thoughts were interrupted when Haruka came up behind her, "Shizuru, we have a meeting right now." Shizuru turned towards the blonde and smiled placidly, "Ara, a meeting? I wasn't aware of it." Yukino, who was beside Haruka, handed Shizuru a letter from the Headmistress, "Miss Maria wants us to find volunteers from the student body to go clean up the walls that were vandalized. She said that even though our school wasn't found guilty of it, it would look good for the school's public image to be the ones to clean it up."

Shizuru nodded as she took the letter and quickly skimmed through it since Yukino had basically summarized it for her. She handed the letter back to the brunette, "Please list Natsuki Kruger and Nao Yuuki as volunteers, I am sure they would love to help out." Yukino nodded and took out a small notebook to write the names in there. "You can't volunteer other people!" Haruka exclaimed and quickly glanced around the room, "especially not if they aren't present!"

"Do not worry Haruka-chan, I am certain that they have no arguments against volunteering." Shizuru replied as she took her shoulder bag, "I can't attend the meeting, but I am sure that Haruka-chan can oversee it for me?" Haruka crossed her arms indignantly across her chest, "Of course I can. I don't need a bubuzuke like you." Shizuru laughed softly, "Of course you don't Haruka-chan. Ookini."

Yukino glanced back and forth from Haruka to Shizuru's retreating form. She sighed as she took her own bag and waited for Haruka. _'Will Haruka-chan ever be able to not fall into Shizuru-san's tricks?' _She wondered as Haruka smiled triumphantly thinking she had finally showed Shizuru off.

-------

Natsuki and Nao walked towards the cafeteria with quick steps. As they neared the building, they noticed a group of students had begun to gather in a circular fashion as screams and cheering propagated throughout the growing mob.

"What the hell?" Natsuki asked as she glanced at Nao who only shrugged. "Probably some fight. Don't worry about it." Natsuki followed Nao's advice and as they walked past the mob, she turned when she noticed Shizuru was walking towards the mob from the other side, unaware of Natsuki, to stop the fight. "Wait." Natsuki said as she grabbed Nao's arm and pulled her inside the mob.

Shizuru made her way through the large group of students quickly and found two underclassman boys in the middle of the chaos fighting with their fists. "Stop this instant." She ordered without raising her voice but enough for the two boys to hear her. She was glad that they hadn't resorted to use magic against each other. The tallest of the two boys, upon hearing the student council president's order, turned to Shizuru and glared at her before screaming, "Stay out of it!" Shizuru's eyes narrowed at the boy's insolence, but decided against engaging in a verbal fight with the aggressive kid. Gladly, she didn't need to engage him at all since the school allowed her, as student council member and president, the use of magic in situations that required it to keep the school's peace and safety.

Natsuki reached the center of the chaos as soon as Shizuru had, but had remained on the side since she knew that Shizuru was able to deal with it. As Shizuru raised her arm in front of her and clenched her fist, Natsuki realized the brunette was going to use a restraining spell against the boy that would immobilize him until he was calm enough to be taken to Miss Maria's office. _'You're bright Shizuru.' _She noted but her gaze turned to the other boy who had moved to the sideline as his 'opponent' was being taken care of. It was then that she realized that the two boys were the Hamai brothers, Jiro and Juro. They were always causing trouble in the academy by fighting others or each other, but everyone knew that they had each other's back when it all came down.

"Shizuru!" She called with terror when Juro moved his hands and with a quick spell, materialized a large ice shard that went flying straight at Shizuru's back. Shizuru was barely able to turn upon hearing Natsuki's call, when she felt a forceful push and saw the blur of blue hair behind her.

"AHHH!" Natsuki screamed when she felt the ice crash against her shoulder as she threw herself in front of Shizuru. Gasps were heard collectively, but Shizuru paid no attention as she turned quickly and grabbed Natsuki in her arms. Nao glared at the two boys and quickly restrained them not caring about school laws since she wasn't in student council. "Natsuki!" Shizuru called frantically, but Natsuki did not respond. Within seconds, Mikoto was kneeling down at her side as she placed her hands over Natsuki who had blood seeping through her uniform. The black-haired girl was the top student in the medical mastering and knew that if she waited until Yohko-sensei came to aid the bluenette, it would be too late.

She placed her hands on Natsuki's abdomen and closed her eyes. Activating her magical-sensory, she found the large wound on Natsuki's shoulder. She realized that Natsuki had gone into a state of shock since the wound was deep. Focusing all her energy on the spot, she began to heal it, her magic regenerating the cells, nerves, muscle and tissue that had been injured. As she worked briskly to stop the bleeding, she sensed a rare source of energy in Natsuki. Without disturbing the process of healing, she turned her focus slightly on the energy over and was confound at what she found.

Shizuru saw Mikoto tremble slightly without opening her eyes. She still held Natsuki in her arms as Nao and Mai, along with the others, stood silently and watched as Mikoto worked. A few minutes later, Yohko came running to the scene followed by Midori, both having been told about the incident by another student, and found Shizuru cradling Natsuki in her arms as the younger girl blushed. Mikoto was standing beside Mai as the orange-haired girl lightly ran her fingers on her soft hair, but her gaze was focused at the pair before them.

"Are you okay Natsuki-san?" Yohko asked as she came up next to Natsuki as Midori took care of the two boys escorting them to the Headmistress' office. "Yes Yohko-sensei, Mikoto saved me, I just have a slightly throb on my shoulder," Natsuki answered flickering her gaze to Mikoto who blushed before looking away. "I'm glad you're okay, but I think you should come in to my office just to be sure you're okay." Yohko said but Natsuki quickly shook her head, "No, no, I'm okay, Mikoto did a great job." Natsuki knew that if Yohko-sensei where to check her completely, she would find out about _it. 'No, if she finds out she is required to tell Miss Maria, and she will surely tell my parents.' _

Yohko was curious as to why Natsuki seemed so redundant of going for a check-up, but paid no attention it. "Fine, but if there is any discomfort after a couple of days, come see me. Mikoto healed it up but you will need rest for it to be completely cured okay?" Natsuki nodded, "Yes Yohko-sensei." Shizuru held Natsuki's hand softly, but firmly as if she was afraid to let go, "I will make sure Natsuki gets enough rest Yohko-sensei." Yohko nodded and turned to Mikoto before leaving, "Good job Mikoto." Mikoto smiled, "It was the right thing to do." Mai felt immense pride in her girlfriend. Everyone knew that such acts of healing consumed a lot of energy, and even though Mikoto was strong, she had her limits.

Shizuru went up to Mikoto and bowed down in respect, "Ookini Mikoto-san. You saved my Natsuki's life, and thereby saved my own." Mikoto felt her cheeks flare up as she saw the student council president thanking her. Beside her, Natsuki rubbed her cheek sheepishly before grabbing the shorter girl in a hug, "Thanks Mikoto." Mai and Nao watched with wide-eyes at the unusual display from Natsuki. After a few seconds, Natsuki released Mikoto, "N-no problem." Mikoto stuttered, not used to so many thanks, and certainly not used to hugs from the bluenette.

-------

After the commotion over Natsuki's injury was subdued, Shizuru had acquired permission from the Headmistress to take Natsuki back to her dorm and make sure she was okay. One the way back to the dorms in the afternoon, Mai noticed Mikoto's lost gaze and unfocused attention. She tried to see what was wrong with the usually-hyper girl but did not receive any answers except the occasional shrug of shoulders.

Mai laid on the bed with a magazine in her hands as Mikoto used the desk to finish her assignments. Mai was not paying much attention to the magazine as her gaze kept moving towards Mikoto who was completely concentrated in the work.

That in itself was weird enough.

"Ne, Mikoto. Are you sure everything is okay?" Mai asked as she placed her magazine to the side. She cared more about what was bothering Mikoto than "who-wore-what" at the red carpet. Mikoto glanced quickly towards her girlfriend who was now sitting cross-legged on the bed before returning to her homework, "Hai." Her soft and almost inaudible response set off Mai's red-flag.

The flamed-haired girl made her way from the bed until she was standing behind the desk's chair holding onto Mikoto's shoulders. Mikoto shivered as she felt Mai's hot breath on her neck, "Mi-ko-to…you love me correct?" Mai asked sensually as she began to massage the black-haired girl's shoulders. "Ye-yes." Mikoto stuttered her response. Mai smirked, "Then you will always tell me what's bothering you correct?"

Mikoto shot up from the chair and ran towards the refrigerator to take out a bottle of orange juice and began to gulp it down. Mai was left stunned momentarily but her eyes narrowed slightly, _'Mikoto is definitely hiding something. I am sure of it.' _

"Fine Mikoto. If you don't want to tell me that's fine." Mai said with a cold voice before moving towards the bed they shared and jumping under the covers. She covered her head completely as if hiding from the younger girl. Mikoto walked towards the bed slowly without releasing the juice bottle. "Mai…" She said softly while looking around for an entrance into the girl's cocoon, but found none as Mai pulled the covers tightly. "I respect your privacy but if there is something bothering you I expect you to tell me so I can help you…" Mai muttered from underneath the covers.

"It's not about me." Mikoto stated quietly after deciding to take a seat next to the girl. Mai immediately raised her head, "Then who is it about?" Looking around the room, Mikoto bit her lip nervously and turned her gaze to the carpeted floor, "Natsuki."

Mai's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "What is it?"

"She's…" Mikoto began as she met Mai's violet gaze, "Pregnant."

-------

"Promise me Shizuru." Natsuki said sternly as she met Shizuru's cold crimson eyes that lingered on her own emerald gaze. Their staring competition only lasted a few seconds before Shizuru looked away with a sigh, "Ara, I see Natsuki-chan is quite fixed on her decision."

Natsuki's cheeks flared up at the suffix Shizuru used but did not let it distract her, "Do you promise Shizuru?" Natsuki asked again without wavering her gaze. She had asked Shizuru to promise her that she wouldn't seek revenge against the two Hamai brothers that had hurt her. She knew Shizuru and was aware of how overprotective Shizuru could get when Natsuki was hurt in any way. _'If only she knew that her child had also been in danger. Nothing would've been able to stop her and blood would've been spilled.' _She grimaced inwardly as she waited for Shizuru's answer.

"Yes. I do." Shizuru said as she rose from Natsuki's bedside and planted a kiss on her forehead, "I would do anything you ask me." Natsuki smiled and took Shizuru's hand gently, "Arigato." Shizuru nodded and took the empty mug that was on the nightstand, "I will go get you more chocolate."

Natsuki's smile disappeared as soon as Shizuru left the room. _'You would do anything I tell you? Will your mindset remain the same when I tell you I'm pregnant?' _Natsuki asked in her mind as tears burned at the corner of her eyes. She was scared, and not even the love of her life could help her.

"_Ara, Mai-san, what a surprise." _Natsuki heard Shizuru's voice after a rapid succession of bell-rings. _"Oh, Hi Shizuru." _Mai's voice was heard as she giggled nervously, _"Ano…is Natsuki here? I really need to speak with her." _A couple of seconds later, Shizuru appeared at her door, "Your cousin is at the door. Are you well enough to speak with her?" Natsuki nodded, "Yea, I'm fine Shizuru. I already told you a million times I was fine didn't I?" Shizuru pouted, "Ara, ara, I understand Natsuki. No need to be upset…after all I've done to care for you and this is how you pay me?" Natsuki freaked out and pulled the brunette towards her and wrapped her arms around her waist, "No, I'm sorry. I am thankful for your care, I really am."

Shizuru smiled, "Well, I'm glad. Then I will go buy some tea and more chocolate since you've ran out while you talk to Mai-san. I will be back later okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." Natsuki responded before Shizuru leaned down to kiss her on the lips and leaving the room. A short exchange followed between Mai and Shizuru before the brunette left and Mai stormed into the bluenette's room.

"Gosh Mai. What's your deal?" Natsuki asked with an irritated tone as Mai sat next to her on the bed and looked at her with bewilderment. Since Shizuru was no longer present, her "bad-girl" mode was switched on. "Do you have _anything_ to tell me?" Mai asked as her eyes moved about the bluenette's body with uncertainty.

'_Crap. That stupid spider must've told her. Damn her. Damn her. Damn her!' _Natsuki thought in anger and embarrassment as Mai kept her scrutinizing gaze on her. "I-I don't know what you mean." Natsuki stuttered with flushed cheeks. "Bullshit." Mai said with anger creeping in her voice as she stood up and stared straight at Natsuki.

"What the hell is your problem?" Natsuki asked as she began to grow angry and anxious. Mai's unusual crude language was not a good sign since it was Natsuki the one with such language habits, not Mai. "Do you have any idea what Aunt Saeko will do when she finds out?" Mai asked as she began to pace around the room. Mai's father and Mitsuo were brothers, making Mai and Natsuki cousins. "Wh-what are you talking about?!" Natsuki asked as she stood up from the bed that Shizuru had kept her in for "health" reasons although her shoulder was no longer in pain.

"Don't fuck with me Natsuki because I swear this is not funny. When your dad and mom find out they will completely freak out!" Mai glared at her cousin as she continued, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Natsuki turned her glare from Mai and looked to the floor. _'She knows. There's no point denying it.' _"I just found out this morning. I hadn't had the chance."

"What were you thinking Natsuki?" Mai asked as she lowered her voice and tears streamed down her face. Although Natsuki wasn't a very affectionate cousin, they had grow up together and had become close like sisters, which was why Mai was so worried for her. A pregnancy was the most important thing in a woman's life, for it meant the bringing of a new being into the world, and it should never be done without prior preparation and thought. She knew that Natsuki's life would be greatly affected, and not in a good way.

"I wasn't!" Natsuki exclaimed with anger as tears rolled down her own face. Watching Mai cry for her caused the stress of the situation to break upon her like a dam and made her lose her composure. "I wasn't thinking at all. I couldn't think of anything that wasn't Shizuru at the time. I was so lost in the moment that it never occurred to me to recite the spell…"

"It's hers?" Mai asked looking up to meet Natsuki's emerald glazed eyes, "Why didn't she recite it? This isn't just your fault. She could've prevented this…" Mai finished through gritted teeth but Natsuki shook her head, "No, Shizuru is not at fault. I should've been more careful. I can't blame her."

"Are you that blinded by your love that you don't see her fault?" Mai could not believe her cousin's words as she ran her hand through her orange strands in an exhausted manner. "Does she know? How did she react? She _is _going to take responsibility right?"

"She…she doesn't know yet." Natsuki admitted sheepishly without meeting violet eyes that stirred with a flood of emotions. "I haven't told her yet."

"Natsuki…" Mai could not find any words to express how she felt. All she knew was that Natsuki and Shizuru had ruined their lives.

-------

Shizuru parked her car in the dorm's parking lot and sat in the silence of the closed vehicle for a few seconds. She had once again experience the same feeling she had back in her grandparent's house when Natsuki fainted after they had crashed in the water.

The feeling of fear.

The fear of losing Natsuki.

After Natsuki had been healed by Mikoto, she had attempted to look for the two boys who had done the damage but Natsuki had stopped her with pleading eyes. An overwhelming guilt came to her upon seeing the emerald orbs.

It had been her fault that Natsuki had been hurt. If she hadn't been careless about giving her back to the younger brother, he would've never had been given the chance to attack her and nothing would've happened. The accident at the mountain was also her fault when she couldn't control her power and released a fire wave that broke Natsuki's ice road. _'It seems that I am the cause of all of Natsuki's pain.' _She sighed and turned to look to the bright moon that had set up on the sky. _'Kami-sama, you know that I love Natsuki over my own life and would never do anything to hurt her. Please help me care for her and prevent such accidents from happening to her. I can't lose her.'_

As guilt and pain tried to overtake her thoughts, she drove them away with the memories of the night of her birthday she had spent with Natsuki_. _The pleasure she had felt with Natsuki was something that nothing would be able to take away from her. That night she and Natsuki had trusted each other and had given their everything to one another in complete love. Not once in Shizuru's thoughts did the notion of not having recited the spell passed through her mind. She was sure, after all, that Natsuki had recited it.

She glanced at the car's green digits that told her the time. _9:13. _Taking the grocery bag with chocolate mix and tea, she strolled towards the dorm and made her way to the bluenette's room. Her own room was on the opposite wing which she shared with Haruka.

"Natsuki?" She voiced with slight surprise as she opened the door and found the bluenette in the living room sitting in front of the television with the lights off. The glow of the television as the bluenette played her videogame hid the tears she had shed. "Did Mai-san already leave?" Natsuki nodded at Shizuru's question, "Yea, a few minutes ago."

"How are you feeling? I got you more chocolate." Shizuru said as she placed the grocery bag on the counter and took out the tea and chocolate. "I'm okay Shizuru. I thought I had already told you didn't I?" Natsuki snapped back suddenly, causing Shizuru to turn her attention to the bluenette and found a pair of emerald orbs staring back at her with something that scared Shizuru. _'Is…is that rage I see in her eyes?' _Natsuki glared at the brunette intensely. Even the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped significantly.

"_Mai please leave. I need to think." Natsuki asked her cousin as she wiped her tears away. Mai nodded, "Fine. Just remember I'm here for you okay?" Natsuki did not respond as the orange haired girl left. Alone in the dorm, Natsuki's mind began to process what Mai had told her. How she had 'ruined' her life, and she had come to a realization that she had been trying to avoid. "It's Shizuru's fault." She said out loud to the silent room. 'If she had been more careful, she would've recited the spell and spared us of this trouble. And to top it off, I'm the one that gets pregnant while she nonchalantly goes on without a worry. Why must I be the one to carry her child for eighteen weeks!' Her mind continued to convince her of Shizuru's fault as it feed the fire within her. As much as her heart wanted to stay away from that type of thinking, she was unable to help it. It had finally dawned on her all of the stuff she would have to go through. And it wouldn't be pretty._

"Natsuki, are you okay?" Shizuru asked as she came close to the bluenette and placed her hand in her shoulder, but Natsuki pulled back, "Yes Shizuru! I am doing just fucking dandy!" Natsuki screamed leaving Shizuru stunned as she stood up and ran into her room and slamming it with force before locking it.

Shizuru heard Natsuki slide to the ground against the door as the sound of crying began from the room. "Na-Natsuki! Please open! What's going on?!" Shizuru asked on the verge of panicking as she tried without avail to open the locked door. "Just leave Shizuru!" Natsuki screamed back from the other side. Shizuru took a step back as Natsuki's voice came again, this time softer as it was being hidden by tears, "Please…just…just leave…"

Shizuru's throat became dry, and without another word, left. She hated leaving the bluenette in such state but she knew that Natsuki was stubborn and her anger would grow if she didn't leave. Fighting to keep her tears for a while longer, she took her cell phone out as she walked towards her dorm.

"_What?" _A clearly annoyed voice answered.

"I'm sorry to disturb your peace Nao-san, but I am afraid I have to ask that you come back to your dorm. Natsuki has asked me to leave and she locked herself in her room. I don't know what's wrong with her…" Shizuru trailed off as tears burned her eyes.

"_I'll be there in a few." _Nao said quickly before hanging up.

Shizuru placed her cell phone away and made it to her dorm.

-------

Nao entered the room and found it in complete darkness. Only a faint trace of light escaped through the space underneath the bluenette's door.

As she neared it to knock, she heard Natsuki's voice. _'Is she on the phone?' _Nao wondered as she stood outside the door to listen.

"_Well, thank you for worrying but I'm fine."_

A short silence passed before Natsuki spoke again.

"_Oh, yea I guess that should be fine. If Miss Maria has already said it's okay then I see no problem."_

Nao's pocket began to vibrate but she quickly pulled it out and stepped away from the door towards the living room.

**I had fun 2nite. 2 bad u had to leave early. Cant wait to see u again ;) Just make sure ur little gf Nina keeps being stupid ne? :P**

Nao closed her phone as she finished the message. _'Damn it Shiho. Why must you say things that make me feel guilty that I'm cheating on Nina?' _Nao's thoughts occupied her mind and did not alert her when Natsuki opened the door and stepped out. "What are you doing here spider? I thought you were gone." Natsuki's words did not register clearly to Nao as her lime eyes focused on the small duffle bag that Natsuki carried on her shoulder before placing it on the sofa. "What?" Natsuki asked clearly annoyed.

"What's that?" Nao asked pointing to the bag, completely ignoring the bluenette's first question. "What the hell does it look like?" Natsuki said as she went into the kitchen. "It looks like a fucking cat." Nao retorted following the bluenette. "Are you telling me or not?" Nao said simply as she leaned on the counter of the small kitchen. "My mom called and asked me to go with her and my dad to visit my grandparents and my cousin because she just had her baby and the welcoming ceremony is tomorrow." Natsuki said without turning to face the red-head.

"Akane gave birth already? That's cool. Give her my congrats." Nao said remembering Natsuki's cousin that had graduated the year before. The easy-going girl had married her long time boyfriend, Kazuya Kurauchi, and had gotten pregnant within a few weeks after the wedding. "Yea, I will." Natsuki stated as she looked at her wristwatch, "They're sending the driver to pick me up. He should be here in five minutes."

"Natsuki." Nao's cold voice startled Natsuki, causing her to turn fully. "Does Shizuru know you're leaving?" Natsuki did not respond as she walked to pick her duffel bag, "I'm leaving now. The driver should be here." Nao followed the bluenette, "What happened Natsuki? Shizuru called me and asked me to come see you because you had kicked her out. Why did you do that? Did you guys get in an argument?"

Natsuki grabbed her bag and walked briskly to the door, "Nothing happened. I'll be back in a few days." Nao watched silently as Natsuki closed the door behind her.

_-------_

"Where are Aoi and Chie?" Mai asked as she took a seat next to Mikoto on the lunch table. "I don't know, but I think I heard them fucking in the girl's bathroom." Nao replied matter-of-factly. "Okay." Mai said before beginning to eat her noodles alongside Mikoto.

Nao watched slightly disgusted at the pair. She had always preferred western meals, and her hamburger and fries attested to that. She had not been surprised that Mai had not asked about her cousin since she had guessed Natsuki would've texted her about it. Nao continued to enjoy her meal but stopped when she noticed Mai stop and look up, her demeanor changing suddenly as she saw someone coming towards them, but the identity of the person remained a mystery to Nao until she heard the Kyoto-ben behind her, "Excuse me Nao-san, may I speak to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Nao replied as she turned towards Shizuru, "What is it?" Shizuru remained oblivious to the glare she was receiving from Mai as she spoke to the red-head, "I haven't seen Natsuki and I've texted and called her several times already. I was wondering if you knew if she was okay." Mai huffed, "Well, perhaps she doesn't want to talk to you. Haven't you thought about that?"

Shizuru was taken back by the orange haired girl's bitterness, "Excuse me? Why would she be avoiding me?" Mai bolted up from her chair, "You might be the prodigy student of this school and the whole damn country, but you aren't as perfect as you think."

Nao watched with wide-eyes at the busty girl's outburst, and found it amusing how Mikoto looked back and forth between her girlfriend and the student council president. "So-sorry." Mikoto stuttered before going after her girlfriend who was walking away with angry steps.

The brunette turned to Nao, "Did I say something wrong?" she asked and Nao only shrugged, "I don't know, and about Natsuki…" Nao trailed off, _'Was I supposed to keep her trip a secret or what? Oh well, she didn't specify.' _"Natsuki went with her parents to visit her grandparents or something like that."

Shizuru's demeanor fell visibly, "She left? For how long?" Nao shrugged again, "I don't know, a couple days I think." A small vibration on her pocket caught Nao's attention, "Sorry Shizuru, but that's all I got. See ya." She walked away from Shizuru as she took out her phone.

**Hey! Heard your gf is working in extra practice meet in the science room?just checked and its waiting ;)**

Nao sighed, _'So tempting. Nina is in her track practice, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I do it just one more time right?'_

**On my way.**

Nao pressed the send button and began her trip.

-------

"Would you look at her? She's so cute!" Aika Kruger claimed excitedly as she held her grandchild, "She has Akane-chan's eyes!"

Akane blushed as her husband Kazuya smiled proudly. "Good job son. You have a beautiful family." Aika's husband, Kei Kruger, commented as he patted Kazuya's back softly. "Mother, can I hold Miyuki-chan?" Saeko asked eagerly and grinned when her mother passed the small child to her waiting arms. Natsuki just stood back and watched the interactions with her father at her side. Mitsuo stood beside his daughter and took notice of his daughter's depressed demeanor, "Are you okay Natsuki-chan? You seem rather down today."

"I'm okay." Natsuki replied before turning her attention to the group once more. The ceremony was held early that morning, for it was their tradition to hold a welcoming ceremony for each newborn, that welcomed the child into a life of happiness and prosperity in the world. Mitsuo sighed, "You cannot lie well Natsuki-chan. Much like me." He finished with a chuckle. "Tell me, what's bothering you?" Mitsuo asked again, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Natsuki flinched instantly and moved away from her father, "I said I was okay." She responded and left the room towards the gardens. Akane caught her cousin's actions from the corner of her eye and leaned in to her husband, "Kazu-kun, I'll be back in a bit. I need to speak with Natsuki." Kazuya nodded and turned back to watching his daughter being held and surrounded by his wife's family.

"Natsuki." The bluenette turned to find her cousin, "What is it Akane?" She asked with exasperation. She was just _tired _of being asked how she was doing. "I won't ask you if there's something wrong because I know there is. Now just come out and tell me already what's bothering you." Akane stated flatly, her soft face serious with concern.

Seeing her cousin was reluctant to speak, Akane continued, "Since you got here you haven't even approached Miyuki, and I know that as tough as you want to look, you are a sucker for babies, which makes me worry there is something wrong." Natsuki rolled he eyes, "Whatever."

"You know you can talk to me right?" Akane asked grabbing her cousin's arm lightly, "Right?"

Natsuki grunted and pulled her hand away, "Sure. Whatever." Akane sighed as her cousin walked away inside the mansion once more.

Their grandparent's castle was one of the biggest structures in the country of Kruger, which was only natural for the royal family. Natsuki had visited the castle countless times during her youth and her room overlooked the sea, giving her clear view of the open water at all times. Natsuki opened her large bay window and inhaled the salty air that blew inside with a light breeze. She instinctively moved her hand towards her abdomen, _'Hey kid. This was where I had the best moments of my youth. When you get here, I will definitely bring you here as much as I can. Hopefully you'll love it as much as I do right?' _Natsuki smiled, thinking that perhaps having a kid wasn't too bad. _'We could bring him, or her, here and have so much fun together. Shizuru would love this place!' _Pain flashed through her at the thought of her lover, _'Shizuru…' _She slammed the window shut and walked over to her king-sized bed. "Damn it!" She screamed as she grabbed a pillow laying near her and threw it against the wall, but remained unsatisfied with the soft thud it caused. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" She screamed again and again, this time picking mugs from a collection she had received as gifts from her parents that were lying on a shelf near the bed, and throwing them against the wall. The loud crunch of the ceramic material being blasted into tiny pieces made Natsuki pleased with herself.

But she wasn't done.

The loud noise did not reach the rest of the family who were in the living room with the newborn. Well, for the exception of one family member. Saeko.

"What is this?!" Saeko called out in horror as she entered the room and found not only the pieces of mugs sprawled against the floor along with pillows, but the entire room was a chaos. Plush creatures laid aloof on the room and the entirety of the room seemed to have suffered from a typhoon.

She found Natsuki nowhere in sight but the sounds extruding from the bathroom where a signal of where Saeko could find her daughter. Saeko hurried over across the spacious room and entered the bathroom without difficulty, as it was not locked, and found her daughter's face hidden inside the bathroom toilet as sounds that Saeko had not heard for years came from her daughter.

Natsuki was unaware of her mother's presence inside the bathroom as she continued to vomit. The anger she had inside of her had caused her a sickening pain in her stomach and had forced her to this. She felt sicker than she had ever felt before. "I…hate…" Natsuki was unable to finish her sentence when she felt a hand on her back. She slowly turned around and found her mother's eyes, swirling with an emotion she could not decipher, looking down upon her.

"Mo-Mom?"

-------

"Wasn't that fun?" Shiho asked with a smirk on her face as she fixed her uniform's vest. Nao rolled her eyes and fixed her collar, "Whatever, but let's not do this again in the science room, I think I hurt my back with one of the faucets in the table."

Shiho shrugged and walked towards the door, but froze when she heard footsteps nearing the room. "Shit, someone's coming. Hide, hide!" She called out panicking as she turned around and hid underneath one of the laboratory stations in the room beside Nao. "What is it?" Nao asked in a whisper as she felt her heart thump loudly at the thought of getting caught. "Someone's coming. Shut up." Shiho replied and fell silent when the sound of keys trying to open the door could be heard from the other side.

"Okay, we're here, what is it that you need to speak with me about in private?" Nao felt horror when she heard Nina's clearly annoyed voice inside the lab as her footsteps marched inside followed by the sound of a second person's timid voice, "I-I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, but this is a serious matter that can't be heard by others."

"That's-" Shiho's sentence remained unfinished when Nao swung her hand to Shiho's mouth and glaring at the girl, a silent 'shut up' being clearly understood by the pink haired girl.

"Nina-san, please forgive me if I seem too blunt, but you do realize I love you right?" A long silence followed the timid girl's sentence while Nao herself felt her blood boiled inside at the confession directed to _her_ girlfriend. The fact that she herself was cheating on Nina did not bother her at the moment as she continued to listen. After the silence, Nina spoke up, "I am aware…but…you know that's not possible…" Shiho was surprised at the girl's soft reply that was intended at not hurting the other person. All the time she had known Nina, she had found her to be an aggressive and rough underclassman who was not good enough for Nao.

"Why?! Is it because of Nao? You _know_ she is cheating on you!" The other girl's upset reply made Nao cringe. Why did she have to bring it up? Shiho felt Nao tense up beside her, but was glad when Nao remained quiet.

"Damn it! I know that but I still can't break up with her…" Nina's angry words trailed off before Nina's words began to become muffled from the girl's sobs, "I-I can't…I still have the hope tha-that she will stop che-cheating and-and because I'm-I'm-"

Nao held her breath as she waited for the girl to finish her sentence, but she did not. Instead, a quick movement of feet was heard and Nina could be heard crying freely. The crying lasted for a few minutes until the bell rang. No more words were heard until the door was opened and the two girls left.

"Huh'. This is pretty bad." Shiho commented with a smirk. She had found the entire exchange amusing, and especially the way Nao had responded. Sweat beads adorned the red-head's face as they both left their hiding place and walked towards the door. Nao did not speak and left the pink-haired girl alone in the room after leaving quickly.

Nao walked down the corridor to her class, accidentally bumping into more than one student along the way, but she failed to notice as her mind went over the conversation between Nina and the other girl. _'Nina loves me. She had the chance to be with someone who loves her, and yet she chose to stay by my side? I am a horrible person. How could I do thi_s _to her?'_

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**A/N: Thank you for reading. I wasn't too content with this chapter but I guess it's what they call a "filler" chapter or something like that. I needed it to steer the boat towards the fun drama :P Oh, and can you guess who was the girl who professed her love for our lovely Nina? :P**

**Once again, thank you so much for reading and please review. I love reading you ideas, comments, and everything! Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello ladies and gentleman. First of all, I want to thank you for all the reviews, favorites, alerts, and basically all of my reader's awesomeness. I feel so extremely overjoyed when I receive reviews and I know that people _actually_ read my story and _actually_ like it! I want to thank all the reviewers especially, for making my life so much better :D  
I always try to reply to every single review, but since I can't thank the anonymous reviewers, I will do so here. THANK YOU!!! :)**

**Well, enough with my ramblings, go on and hope you enjoy :D **

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**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**3**

'_What's going on?'_

"Shizuru."

'_I just don't understand. Is it my fault?'_

"Shizuru."

'_If it is my fault, how can I fix it?'_

"Damn it Shizuru! Listen to me!" Haruka said loudly as she shook her roommate by the shoulders. Shizuru broke from her thoughts immediately, "Ha-Haruka-chan, Kannin na. I didn't hear you." Shizuru answered slightly startled. Haruka huffed, "I bet you didn't. What's wrong with you? You've been like this ever since lunch time. What's going on?" The busty blonde asked with concern. After the student council meeting, which Shizuru missed, Haruka had noticed that her friend seemed to be constantly lost in thought and had not spoken much throughout the dinner they shared since Haruka had come back to the dorm earlier than usual, being as how Yukino had too much homework for Haruka to distract her.

"I'm not really sure." Shizuru answered honestly. Because she _didn't_ know what was going on. Her girlfriend had kicked her out of her room and had then left without telling her. _'Its not that I need to keep tabs on her or I'm trying to control her, I just want to know if she's okay…'_ Seeing Natsuki crying and filled with rage had planted fear in Shizuru that she had not felt before. The fact that Natsuki's cousin, Mai, had acted such strange manner did not help appease Shizuru's worries one bit.

"Is this about your delinquent?" Haruka asked coming to sit on the brunette's bed. Shizuru had her legs pulled towards her in a vulnerable manner that not many had seen the student council president in.

But Haruka had.

Many times before.

And she knew that it usually involved the girl who stole her friend's heart from the first day. While the girl known as Natsuki Kruger had brought joy to Shizuru's life, it had also brought worries and pain along with it.

"_What's wrong Shizuru!?" Haruka asked full of worry as she rushed to her friend's side who laid on the carpeted floor next to her bed. The brunette's locks where stuck to her wet cheeks that were kept under a continuous flow of tears. Haruka felt her heart clench as her best friend only shook her head and muttered something that was inaudible to Haruka's hearing._

"_Is this about that first year girl? Natsuki Kruger?" Haruka asked knowing that Natsuki Kruger was the reason for her friend's pain. She had heard rumors earlier throughout the day that the talented Shizuru Viola had asked Natsuki out on a date but the raven haired student had refused immediately and ran off, leaving the older girl's heart torn in pieces. _

_Shizuru only nodded as she hid her face in her friend's shoulder, her crying intensifying upon hearing the girl's name. "Shh. Shh. Calm down Shizuru. It's going to be okay." Haruka cooed as she softly rubbed her friend's back in a comforting manner. _

Yes. Haruka had always been there for Shizuru when Natsuki broke her heart, when Natsuki broke her dreams, when Natsuki broke her soul. Haruka was always there to help her. But she had also been there to rejoice with the brunette when Natsuki made her happy.

"_So I heard you and that girl are dating now." Haruka stated as she entered her room and found the brunette typing away on her laptop. The wide grin that spread on the girl's face upon hearing the name of her girlfriend was unmistakable. It was joy._

"_Ara, seems like Haruka-chan cares a lot about me. She even asks such personal questions." Shizuru teased not being able to hide her grin. Haruka rolled her eyes, "Whatever bubuzuke woman. Just don't go around with too much PDA. I don't need to see that." Shizuru soft laughter resounded throughout the room before standing up and walking over to her friend, and engulfing her in a hug, "Ookini Haruka-chan. You're the best friend a girl could ask for." Haruka blushed, "Yea. Sure." _

Even then, when Natsuki brought joy, happiness, and love to Shizuru's life, Haruka had always been there to be happy with her. Because that's what friends were for after all.

"Natsuki was quite upset with me last night and left without giving me any notice. She won't answer my calls or messages. I am worried because I honestly don't know what I did wrong." Shizuru said looking up to her friend, her eyes glazed with tears. Shizuru knew she could be open and honest with Haruka no matter what. "Hmmm…that doesn't sound like something Kruger would do." Haruka said after hearing Shizuru's recount of the events. She had not seen Shizuru the night before since she had spent the night at Yukino's room and had not come to her own room until the morning, and by that time she had missed Shizuru who left early for school.

"Which is why I am so worried. She really seemed upset with me, but I can't recall doing or saying anything to upset her." Shizuru affirmed once more.

Haruka sighed, "I don't know Shizuru. I truly don't know what to say."

-------

Natsuki's heart beat was rapid as she glanced back from her grandmother and her mother who were sitting across from her on the leather sofa. The air was filled with the scent of wood and old books as Natsuki shifted her gaze to look around the library that surrounded them.

"Do you think this is a joke Natsuki?" Saeko's voice broke the silence in the room. Natsuki looked down, "I-I don't." Saeko stood up from her seat next to her mother and walked up to Natsuki.

"Look at me." She ordered but Natsuki did not. Few seconds passed before Saeko repeated her command. "Look. At. Me." She repeated slowly yet demanding.

Natsuki slowly raised her face to meet her mother's emerald eyes but only saw a blur as a stinging pain hit her cheek as her mother slapped her.

The sound of palm hitting soft flesh seemed to echo in the large room. Aika flinched slightly upon seeing her daughter's treatment to her granddaughter, but said nothing.

Tears stung Natsuki's eyes, but she had decided not to cry. Crying would be giving her mother complete power over her, and she could not afford to lose the little she had left. After her mother had walked in on her vomiting, she had automatically assumed the worse, and yet correct, answer. She, being a master of medicine similar to Mikoto, but even stronger, only needed to touch her momentarily to know if her assumptions were correct.

They were.

"You have shamed the Kruger name. The whole family will fall victim to your foolish acts, and yet you don't realize the severity of your actions." Saeko spoke angrily. "You obviously don't see what you have done to us."

"To you?!" Natsuki asked in sudden rage, "What about me?! Do you think I have the easy part of the deal? I'm the one who has to carry the child and give birth to it! It's not a sweet vacation for me either!"

Saeko's brows furrowed, "Then why'd you do it? That is what relationships like that bring. Only problems." Natsuki's mother did not need to ask whose child it was since she knew who her daughter was seeing against her own wishes. She prayed against it every day of her life, yet her prayers had not been answered.

Natsuki's fist clenched, "Relationships like that? You sicken me mother. Would it be different if the child I am carrying belonged to a man?"

"Perhaps. He would at least help you with it. Give it a proper name and future." Saeko replied before turning and giving her back to Natsuki. "I warned you about this. I knew bad things would happen Natsuki, I knew it."

"You didn't know anything! All this time you refused to acknowledge my relationship with Shizuru and have failed to give me the support that a daughter wants and needs from her mother!" Natsuki yelled with anger as she glared at her mother. The anger that had been stored up inside of her was now boiling so hot that it began to spill.

Saeko would be burned if she continued.

"Don't raise your voice like that Natsuki! I raised you to be better than that. Then again, I guess I didn't raise you to be a dyke either." The venom in Saeko's voice was thick and deathly as she waited for her daughter's reaction. Aika watched on without saying a word.

"Nobody can tell the heart who to love, and who not to love." Natsuki stated determinately with glazed eyes as she stared at her mother, "Not even you mother. Not even you."

Saeko glanced at her mother who sat silently behind her. Aika did not move, but her eyes met Saeko's and gave her a silent message.

'_She's right.'_

The older bluenette growled inwardly before turning to Natsuki, "Listen Natsuki, I will not let you bring shame to the family, and to yourself."

Natsuki waited for her mother to continue, knowing what was coming could not possibly be good. "Does your _friend_ know about your current state?" Saeko asked, her bitterness emphasizing the word "friend" although it was clear to who she was referring to.

Natsuki lowered her gaze, "No. She doesn't know yet." Saeko sighed in relief, "Perfect then. I will give you two options Natsuki."

"Option number one," Saeko began as she focused her glare on her daughter, "you get rid of the child." Natsuki's eyes widened in shock as she failed to believe her mother's words. Was Saeko capable of doing such a deed to her own daughter, and end the life of a "soon-to-be" family member? Before Natsuki could protest, Saeko continued, "If you choose this option I shall personally take you to the clinic tomorrow morning to have the problem removed."

Aika was in a same state of shock as her granddaughter, but was not given a chance to intervene as Saeko continued her options. "Option number two: You will not inform your friend about the child, and will stay here in Kruger to marry a man of _my _choosing. You have obviously proven incapable of making your own decisions."

Natsuki stared at the floor as she processed the information in her mind. Her mother had obviously planned for her to choose the second option from the beginning, that's why she spoke so coldly. She knew that Natsuki, as "bad-ass" as she acted, was kind and loving at heart, and would never do anything to hurt an innocent person, much less her own child.

Saeko could not help but smirk as Natsuki looked up to meet her intense gaze, their emerald eyes, mirror images of each other, clashing in a silent battle.

"I hate you." Natsuki's voice was barely above a whisper, but Saeko heard it.

"The feeling must be mutual." Saeko replied with the smirk still in place.

-------

Nao walked towards Nina's dorm room after school with quick strides. She had heard that Nina had skipped her track meeting, and that worried her. Nina was not only the best runner the team had, but she was also extremely committed to it.

As she neared the door, she halted her steps when she saw Erstin coming out from Nina's room and shutting the door behind her slowly. Erstin turned to walk back to her own room when she saw Nao's lime eyes glaring directly at her.

"What the hell were you doing in my girlfriend's room?" Nao asked bitterly as she approached the underclassman. Erstin wanted to leave the presence of the red-head, sensing there could be trouble, but decided against it. If Nao wanted a confrontation, she would give it to her.

"In case you are unaware of it, I am Nina's best friend and as far as I know, I am allowed to visit my friends when I want to." Erstin's response was like a war declaration for Nao. She had always suspected about the blonde's intentions with Nina, and the confession she overheard was more than enough to cause the anger within her to burn.

"Listen bitch, I am not the type of girl to 'beat around the bush' so I will get to the point. I know that if it were up to you, you would've fucked Nina a while ago, but too bad she's taken by me." Nao retorted with an evil smirk plastered in her face as she tried to keep the scowl she felt from showing. _'This blondy has no idea who she is messing with.' _

Erstin was slightly shocked by Nao's bluntness, but did not back down. "If you weren't fucking Shiho, you wouldn't have a problem since I would've never tried anything with Nina-chan, but being as how you seem to remain unsatisfied with her, I think it is only fair that I try to make her happy." Erstin avowed as she continued her glaring match with Nao, "If you can't make her happy, I certainly will."

Nao was unable to control her anger as she threw herself against the shorter girl. Erstin did not expect the attack and was rapidly pinned down by the fuming red-head. "You have no idea who you're messing with, kid. If I wanted to, I could slice you in half before your mind could even process what happened. So don't fuck with me or Nina. She's _mine_."

Although Nao was faster and stronger than Erstin, she had not expected Erstin to use magic against her. Before Nao could react, a table that was placed on the dorm hallway near them was flung against Nao's back with a strong force. Nao was knocked off from atop Erstin as the table split against her into two pieces. Nao grunted as the pain propagated itself around her back. She turned to face Erstin, only to find a fist swinging against her and hitting her square on the face. Nao could feel the warm liquid running down her nose as she held back her cries of pain. She was laying on the ground facedown, but could hear Erstin coming towards her from behind.

Erstin, the usually calm and serene girl was beyond recognition at the moment. All the years of having a one-sided love for Nina were not only stressful but hurtful, and now to have Nao ruin her chances even farther was just too much. _'If Nao can't make Nina happy. I swear I will.' _Erstin was caught off-guard when three metal spikes materialized in front of Nao, who had managed to turn around to face her, and flew towards her. Erstin was only able to use her telekinetic power to stop two, but the third one hit its target.

By this time, a small crowd of students who lived in the dorms nearby had formed around them and without trying to stop the fight, watched as the third metal spike made impact with Erstin's leg and dug into her muscle as blood stained her sweatpants. Nao watched as the girl dropped to the ground with a scream of pain, but felt no sympathy. For Nao, a bitch who tried to take Nina away deserved zero sympathy.

A couple of students tried to aid the blonde but Nao was not stopping her attack. She had to hold herself up against the wall as her back throbbed with pain. She scanned the small mob and wondered how it was that Nina had not come out from her room yet, seeing as how much noise they had caused with their fight. Erstin looked up from her bleeding wound to see Nao stalking towards her slowly, a malicious smirk adorning her face.

Nina stirred in her sleep, the nightmare she was experiencing was so real that she could feel the fear clawing at her heart. "Nao…" She muttered in her sleep as her body refused to awaken. Her subconscious was able to hear the sounds outside her room, the voices of various people calling out in almost cheers mingled in between other noises. The sound that awoke her was a loud crash that vibrated against her wall.

"Damn it! Let me go!" Nao growled furiously as she struggled against invisible vines that kept her restrained against the wall. Miss Maria looked extremely pissed and disappointed as she glanced from Nao to Erstin who was passed out on the ground. Not only had the wound caused a great loss of blood as it hit a main artery in her leg, but the sight of so much of her own blood caused Erstin to lose consciousness. Some members of the student council that accompanied Miss Maria rushed to the blonde's side to take her to the infirmary. "You have a lot of explaining to do Miss Yuuki." Miss Maria said as she stood before the red-head. Nao glared at her but stopped struggling, knowing she would not gain anything from it.

Nina stood at her doorway in terror as two male students took Erstin past her to Yohko. "Er-Erstin…" She mumbled almost inaudibly. She also saw Nao being led away by Miss Maria, her hands restrained behind her back "police-style." Nao looked up to meet Nina's eyes swirling with confusion. "Sorry." Nao muttered before lowering her gaze once more and allowing herself to be taken away.

* * *

**A/N: So, what you think? I apologize for how short this chapter turned out to be and for the lack of _ShizNat_, but I promise to make up for it in future chapters.**

*****Special Note: I hope I haven't offended anyone with the whole abortion deal and stuff, because that's not my point. I am not taking a side in the pro or anti abortion thing, because I personally believe it all depends on the situation. So I am not trying to be on one side or the other. I also don't want to offend anyone who has or is going through this situation of unexpected pregnancies if I portray it wrong or something. I have never had an unexpected pregnancy and am only going about based on books, movies, and just common knowledge. Please, don't feel offended if you see something that is like waaaaay out of what actually happens or something. This is just for entertainment purposes in my own little shiznat world where they have to deal with that issue. In the real world, lesbians don't even have to worry about that :P *****

**I also have an announcement to make: I have decided that concerning the Nao-Nina-Erstin storyline, I will allow YOU, the readers, to choose who Nina stays with. I will put a poll up on my profile and you can decide when to vote. The voting is officially open now, and I will tell you when it is almost over so I can see who Nina chooses to be with and make it happen. You can vote now, or in future chapters if you want to wait and see more interactions in the "love-triangle." This is like a "Secondary-storyline" to the story, the ShizNat being, quite obviously, the main one. Hopefully, this will be a fun way for the readers to have power in the story. **

**Please review and give me your thoughts on this chapter, the love triangle, the ShizNat baby troubles, and everything and anything you like please :D Make my day :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to all of the reviews! I am so happy you guys are liking this story so far! Sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D ****I worked hard and decided to update today since my birthday is July 11! So its a birthday gift for me! lol **

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**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**4**

"Come back to me, Gongyla, here tonight,

You, my rose, with your Lydian hovers forever around you delight:A beauty desired.

Even your garment plunders my eyes.

I am enchanted: I who once Complained to the Cyprus-born goddess,

Whom I now beseech

Never to let this lose me graceBut rather bring you back to me: Amongst all mortal women the one I most wish to see."

"What are you reading Shizuru?" Haruka asked as she turned on her bed to face her friend whose dim lamp was still on while she held a book in her hand.

"A poem called _"Please" _by the Greek lyrist Sappho." Shizuru explained before closing her book. "Oh, that lesbian chick from the isle of Lesbos or whatever?" Haruka asked while Shizuru turned off her light and made herself comfortable between her sheets. "That's right." Shizuru replied before turning towards the wall. After a few seconds Haruka did the same and turned to her side and began to drift away into a night of sleep.

The small leather-bound book of poems had been a gift from Natsuki. Remembering the bluenette's blushing cheeks as she presented the gift brought a warm feeling to Shizuru's heart.

"_Ara, what is this?" Shizuru asked with curiosity as her girlfriend extended a small wrapped rectangle that she had fished from her book bag. Natsuki looked away shyly, "It's for you." Shizuru smiled upon seeing the bright blushing cheeks on _her_ lover and carefully unwrapped the unexpected gift. Incased inside the wrappings was a leather-bounded book that seemed to be old as the leather seemed to be slightly worn away. Shizuru opened it carefully and read the title: "Sappho of Lesbos." Natsuki was pleased to see Shizuru's crimson eyes brighten instantly, "Natsuki, I've been looking for a book of her writings for the longest time! How'd you know?" Natsuki smirked, "Well, I remembered you mentioned it once and then I was passing by one of those antique shops and it just occurred to me that if something old like that would be anywhere around here, it'd be there." Shizuru smiled as she leaned across the car seat to kiss her girlfriend. _

"_Ookini Natsuki." _

Shizuru soon heard the rhythmical breathing coming from her roommate and knew Haruka was asleep, something that Shizuru would once more have trouble with tonight. This was the third day without news from Natsuki and every day became harder for Shizuru. The weight in her heart was becoming unbearable as she remained without knowledge of her girlfriend's location or how she was or anything.

Shizuru knew nothing of Natsuki, the one person she thought she knew everything about.

"So nothing yet huh'?" Chie asked as she leaned against the wall beside Nao. The redhead nodded, "How many fucking days has it been and still no word from her! Can you believe it?" After the fight, Nina and Nao had had a "discussion" of what had happened and it had not ended well.

"_What do you mean she just 'pissed you off'?" Nina asked incredulously as she stared Nao down who was sitting on her dorm bed with various bandages around her minor injuries. Her back had been the worst but Yohko had been able to prevent permanent damage. Nao's brows furrowed angrily, "I mean just that! She pissed me off and I just had to defend myself. Would you have preferred that I take a beating from that bitch?"_

"_Don't lie Nao. Erstin told me that you attacked her first, so in any case she was just defending against you. What I want to know is why you would go to the extremes of using your powers to do so much damage to her. She is my best friend and you need to respect her." Nina responded, not sure if she would be able to control her anger. She had been with Erstin while Nao had been taken to Miss Maria's office and she had seen the damage that Nao's darts had caused her. While Yohko was able to stop the immediate bleeding, she was unable to wake the girl up from the shock for a couple of days. As Nina argued with Nao, the blonde student was still in minor coma where she remained unresponsive to pain and sounds. _

_Nao made an attempt to get up from her sitting position but gritted her teeth when she realized the pain on her back would be unbearable to take on a standing position. She turned her lime eyes to Nina and glared bitterly, "I bet you would've rather it was me the one who was unconscious right now, not her. Because not only does the whole school knows, but you are also aware of Erstin's obsession over you. I bet you also want her too, you whore!" _

_Nina's eyes widened in shock at Nao's venomous words but although the affliction in her heart at the words was heavy, she slapped Nao's cheek with force and left the redhead's soft cheek to become brightly red with the burning pain, "Don't you ever talk to me that way again. If we were to talk about whores and the whole school knowing about it, then shouldn't we start with the fact that the whole damn school knows that you are still fucking Shiho behind my back?" _

_Her hand raised to cover her burning cheek and tears at the corner of her eyes, Nao watched as Nina turned and left the room while slamming the door behind her. _

"Well, from what you told me you really pissed her off, Nao." Chie commented as the distant sounds from the cafeteria hovered around them. Nao grunted, "Whatever. She called me a whore too."

Chie shrugged her shoulders and looked towards the table where Mai and Mikoto were seating eating lunch quietly. A smile spread on Chie's lips as Aoi walked up to the table, "My lady is here, let's go back to the table."

Nao nodded and as they both made their way back, frowned upon spotting the spiky haired boy known as Tate Yuuichi walking towards the table with Takeda on his side.

Aoi placed her lunch tray down on the table, "Hey guys." She greeted the couple who seemed rather distant to Aoi's knowing eye. "Hey Aoi." Mikoto greeted as usual, but Mai only acknowledged her with a nod and barely audibly greeting of "Hello."

"Where is Yuuki?" Tate demanded slamming his kendo sword on the lunch table. Mikoto glared at the boy but Aoi knew that Tate was only looking for trouble, "She is clearly not here Tate."

Tate turned his glare to Aoi, "Listen here dyke. You better tell that bitch that I will be looking for her and won't stop until I find her."

"Watch your language Yuuichi." Chie cut in as she and Nao approached the table, "I won't let you talk like that to my girlfriend or to my friends." Nao smirked beside the short haired girl, "Tate Yuuichi, is this what your mommy and daddy taught you? To be a bully with innocent girls?"

Tate's brows furrowed deeply upon setting his angry gaze on Nao. He raised his bamboo sword from the table and pointed it straight at Nao, "Didn't I tell you to stay away from Shiho already? I know you're still chasing after her!"

"Oh please Yuuichi," Nao began as she laid her index finger on the sword pointed against her and pushed it down, "Do you think I'm the one chasing Shiho? You are dead wrong. It is not my fault that you are unable to satisfy your girlfriend and she has to look for real pleasure with me."

The look of disgust and anger that distorted Tate's face caused Nao to laugh before slapping the sword away, "And stop pointing that thing at me. Is this toy of yours what you use to make up for what you lack in _that_ department?"

Takeda, who had accompanied his friend in case he had to stop him from doing something crazy was glad he had come when he quickly moved to catch Tate's arm that had launched into an attack. "Don't do it Tate. She isn't worth your reputation."

"What reputation?" Nao asked, not willing to lose the verbal fight although if Tate decided to attack her, she knew that in her current condition she wouldn't fare well, "Are you talking about the reputation that says you can't even satisfy your woman so she has to go to her female ex to be able to have a real orgasm unlike the faked ones she has with you?"

Tate was roughly pulled away by Takeda who had to struggle to get his blonde friend away from Nao. "I'm going to tear you in pieces you bitch!" Tate called out bitterly, "You better watch your back Yuuki!" Once the pair was out of sight, Nao sighed and took a seat beside Chie who was seated next to Aoi.

"I think you overdid it Nao." Aoi's voice broke the tension that was left behind. "I agree dude, you could've done without the orgasm comment." Chie added. Nao only laughed, "He deserved it. I hate his guts."

"It's not his fault that Shiho left you for him." Aoi observed but Nao shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever." A lopsided smile appeared on her lips as her gaze seemed unfocused, "You know, if I were an author and I had Yuuichi in one of my stories, like fan fiction or something, I'd make sure he had the most horrible tortures ever known to men. Like cut him up into small pieces or something…"

Chie and Aoi exchanged worried glances before Chie turned to Nao and raised her brow curiously, "Are you high again Nao?"

The laughter from the redhead was their only answer.

Saeko smiled proudly as she sealed the envelope shut and eyed it to make sure it was perfect. She could not help from smiling after all, her plan was too great to hide a triumphal smile.

"Saeko, I must have a word with you." Aika said as she stepped into the study where her daughter was seated behind a large oak desk. Saeko looked up, her smile disappearing instantly, "I don't have time mother. Perhaps later."

As Saeko stood up to leave the study, Aika moved slightly on the doorway to block her way. "Mother," Saeko said with a glare, "I have things that need my immediate attention. I said we could speak later."

Aika did not move, "We will speak now Saeko. So take a seat." Aika held her daughters glare easily until Saeko sighed in defeat, "Make it quick." Aika followed her daughter as she went to sit across from her mother on the study's leather sofa.

"What you are doing is wrong, and you are perfectly aware of that." Aika declared, her voice steady and firm, "You cannot make Natsuki marry someone she doesn't love and raise a child with them when the mother of her child, Miss Viola, is perfectly capable of helping her raise their child."

Saeko bolted from her chair fuming, towering over her mother easily, "Natsuki is _my _child! I will do with her as I see fit!"

Although Aika appeared frail and weak, that could not be further from the truth. "Silence Saeko! I will not allow you to ruin Natsuki's life just because of what happened years ago!" Saeko's eyes widened in shock, "How dare you-"

"I dare because she was my daughter and I don't wish to see pain inflicted on Natsuki because of that." Aika interrupted before Saeko could go on, tears now flowing freely from her eyes, "What happened with her cannot be undone by making Natsuki's life a hell. You think that by doing this you will somehow make up for what happened all those years ago? She won't come back, and you won't bring her back by not allowing Natsuki to raise her child alongside the love of her life. The only thing you are doing is turning into a monster like those that killed _her_."

Saeko dropped back to her seat as her legs gave up on her, hands raised to cover her face as she was now reflecting her mother's emotional state, both enveloped in tears. Aika wiped her tears away, "It was not your fault Saeko, and it wasn't Natsuki's fault either, please don't make another life be affected by it."

Remaining seated, Saeko was now completely destroyed by her own mother's words and was left speechless. Aika turned to leave, "Think carefully about what you are doing Saeko."

"Miss Viola."

"Miss Viola."

"Shizuru Viola!"

Shizuru looked up to meet her instructor's angry gaze that was set on her, "Miss Viola, would you care to explain to the class what I just said?"

"Forgive me Ishigami-sensei, I'm afraid I was not paying attention." Shizuru admitted guiltily. It had been a whole week and she still knew nothing of Natsuki. Every night had been sleepless and the deprivation of sleep was now hitting her academic life as well.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again Miss Viola." Wataru Ishigami warned with a glare. Shizuru nodded and once more lowered her gaze, her mind drifting away almost immediately.

Mai watched from the back of the classroom, since she shared "Fire Mastery" class with Shizuru, and glared at the back of the brunette's head. Through the week, she had noticed Shizuru's elemental powers had been weaker during the practice matches and although no one else noticed, Shizuru included, Mai knew that it was due to the magic displacement that happened when a couple created a new life. While only one would have the child, the other one would have a great loss of magic since it went towards creating that life. _'Of course Shizuru is still oblivious to it all.' _Mai thought bitterly. The whole situation had caused so much drama even in her life, since Mikoto accused Mai of being guilty of Natsuki's disappearance, and it had Mai extremely tense.

The ringing of the bell to lunch time awoke Shizuru enough from her haze to move towards the Student Council room where she had spent her lunch hour for the past days in relative "peace". Although today her quiet time would be disturbed by a meeting she had to run.

"Shizuru…you don't look too good…" Haruka pointed out as she sat across from Shizuru on a desk of her own with Yukino by her side. Reito was seated on the other side of Haruka and nodded, "I agree with Haruka-san, you don't look good at all." Dark circles were beginning to appear under Shizuru's eyes and the usual brightness that lived within the crimson orbs was now gone. It was as if the President had had her soul stolen away.

Yukino cleared her throat, "That isn't a nice thing to say to a lady Reito-san, and you too Haruka-chan." Shizuru smiled gratefully to Yukino, she was aware of her state and didn't need others reminding her of it. "We have matters to attend, beginning with the new policy on fights and violence." Yukino began as she clicked the "send" button on her laptop to send the document to the devices on Haruka, Shizuru and Reito's desks.

Haruka and Reito looked them over carefully, but Shizuru's tired eyes just scanned the document quickly. _'Something about harsher consequences to students involved in fights…something about magic use making punishment even worse…and something else…I don't get this…I'm sleepy…I wonder how Natsuki is doing…has she been sleeping well…does she miss me?'_

The student council members, minus Shizuru, were busily working on their task in relative silence until Yukino let out a surprised gasp before looking up to meet Shizuru's crimson orbs. Haruka and Reito also turned to Yukino, "What's wrong Yukino?" Haruka asked her girlfriend who seemed rather shaken up by what she was looking at in her screen.

Yukino did not reply to Haruka, instead she decided to quickly send the file over to Shizuru's computer, followed by Haruka's and Reito's. Shizuru was curious as to what had startled the secretary of the Student Council and waited for a few seconds until the icon of a new file appeared on her desktop.

Titled _"Released Students," _Shizuru quirked a perfect brow as she opened it, wondering what was so special about the file. As it opened, Shizuru's heart suddenly felt heavy when she realized that students were not frequently released during the school year, but when a student was pulled out of the academy the Student Council was informed for their recordkeeping duties.

_Natsuki Kruger_

The sole name on the document was on the very top, followed by information about her release. Shizuru's fists clenched unconsciously as she read through it, not believing her eyes. According to the document, Natsuki had been legally released by request of her mother, Saeko Kruger, mere days after her disappearance. Seeing Saeko Kruger's name related to Natsuki's release made Shizuru's blood boil in fury, _'How could she do this? Was this just because I was…am…dating Natsuki?' _She wondered briefly before rising up from her chair.

Haruka had read the file and waited silently until Shizuru made a move, "Shizuru, what are you going to do?"

The President of the Student Council turned to her best friend, "I will find Natsuki."

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**A/N: OMG! Isn't that something? Well, I hope you liked it and you can forgive me for the long time it took me to update. I promise to try to be better with that. I'm sorry if it seemed that this chapter got nowhere but it is needed for the flow of the story. Also forgive me for the lack of Natsuki! She was sleeping okay? I didn't want to disturb her sleep and have her shoot me! lol I promise to make up for it in future chapters. Believe me, this is gonna get very ShizNatty lol. Lots of more drama coming your way! Please review :D Makes me feel *special* * * lol :P **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: WOW! It has almost been a year since I last updated this story! I could say how sorry I am, that a lot has been going on in RL, but there is still no excuse! Anyway, I beg that you look in deepest part of your heart to forgive me please. I am once again back on track with this story and I hope you will keep reading it and enjoying it. I want to thank all of you who reviewed and kept telling me to update, if it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be here today :)**

**Oh, and the poll to see who Nina should stay with is CLOSED~! I will not reveal the winner just yet, but let it be known that the winner was only by ONE VOTE DIFFERENCE! ONE VOTE MADE THE DIFFERENCE! I will let you find out who won! *You can also check out my profile to see who won if you cannot wait :P Thanks to all those who voted :)**

**Now please, enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-HiME/Mai-Otome or their characters. I do own this story and my characters.**

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**5**

"Shizuru, what exactly do you plan on doing?" Haruka asked as she walked briskly beside her friend. Shizuru remained silent for a moment before answering, "First, I have to find out what happened, why Natsuki left."

Haruka nodded, "Right. Good idea, but how?" Haruka had not noticed they had reached Miss Maria's office. Without hesitation, Shizuru knocked firmly on the door.

"Come on in," came the quick response and the two students stepped inside to find the headmistress sitting behind her desk, her gaze now set on them. "How may I help you ladies?"

Shizuru stepped toward her, "Miss Maria, I am sorry to intrude but I need to know if you know why Natsuki Kruger was released from the academy mid-term." Miss Maria waved her hand, signaling the two students to sit. Once they were settled in their seats, Miss Maria released a sigh, "I am not supposed to release information, but I am aware of your relationship with Miss Kruger and also, I believe it is your right to know about something you are also involved in."

Without another word, Miss Maria opened a drawer in her desk and extruded a yellow manila folder and handed it to Shizuru. "Thank you Miss Maria." Shizuru replied as she opened the folder that enclosed a letter addressed to Miss Maria. Haruka watched Shizuru's brows furrow as her eyes read through the letter.

"This is unacceptable!" Shizuru said as she bolted from her seat, "How dare she?" She spoke through gritted teeth as she placed the letter back on the headmistress's desk. Miss Maria took the letter back, "I am sorry Shizuru-san."

Shizuru nodded and breathed in deeply, wiling her tears to remain within. "Thank you Miss Maria." Haruka stood and followed her friend as she exited the office. "Shizuru, what happened?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"Saeko Kruger removed her from the school because according to her, _'Shizuru Viola is a bad influence for Natsuki'._" Shizuru explained, venom spilling into the end of her sentence." "What the hell?" Haruka asked with anger, "That's a stupid reason. I mean, you told me she didn't approve of your relationship but to remove her from a top-school like Fukka Academy just for that and after seven months of the relationship, it just seems foolish and unjust."

The brunette only nodded as they made their way to their dorm room. As soon as they entered the room, Shizuru moved to her closet and brought out a suit case that she placed atop her bed. "Shizuru...what are you doing?" Haruka asked as her friend proceeded to pack clothes into it.

Shizuru stopped momentarily to look up to her friend, "I told you, I'm going to find Natsuki."

Haruka nodded silently before moving to her own closet and bringing out her own suitcase, when she found Shizuru's eyes staring at her in confusion, she grinned, "Hurry up and pack woman! We have to go find your delinquent!"

Shizuru smiled and mirrored her friend's actions, proceeding to finish packing her clothes.

**KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK**

Mai remained in her desk for a few seconds before she realized that Mikoto was not there and she wouldn't open the door. The medicine expert had signed up to volunteer to aid younger students, all in an attempt to stay away from the dorm room as much as possible after her fight with Mai.

The busty-girl heard the sound of knocking again, this time louder, and walked over to the door.

"What the fuck Mai?" Nao's asked with anger as she pushed past Mai as soon as the door opened. Mai stood by the open door in confusion, "What?"

"Don't you fucking "_what"_ me. Why didn't you tell me that Saeko was planning on removing Natsuki from the school?" Nao's voice was filled with anger as she stood in the middle of the room with her hands in her hips, her stance aggressive, hoping to intimidate the taller girl.

"What?" Mai repeated again, earning an eye-roll from Nao. "I didn't know my aunt was planning on doing that. Why would she do that? And how do you know?"

Nao took a step towards Mai, "Yukino just told me. I was walking by the student council room when I saw Shizuru storm out followed by Haruka. Yukino stepped out of the room after Haruka but I stopped her to see what had happened since I figured whatever had caused Shizuru to storm out like that had to deal with Natsuki."

Before Mai could say anything, they both saw Yukino run past them in the dorm hallways. Nao rushed outside, "Yukino! Hold up!" Mai saw Yukino stop as she waited for Nao who had sprinted to catch up with the girl. Mai walked quickly over to them.

"What do you mean they're leaving?" Mai heard Nao say as she came up to the pair. Yukino nodded, "Yes Nao-san, but I have to go meet them now."

"I'm coming with you," Nao announced as she followed Yukino who nodded before continuing down the hall quickly. Mai followed them until they arrived at the parking lot where the trio spotted Haruka placing two suitcases into Shizuru's vehicle while Shizuru finished talking on her cell phone.

"Where are you guys going?" Nao asked as she came up to the two girls, Mai and Yukino by her side. Shizuru placed her cellphone into her jean's pocket before turning to Nao, "I imagine Yukino-san has informed you that Natsuki was taken from the school right?" Nao nodded, allowing Shizuru to continue, "I am going to go find her and find out what happened."

Mai huffed, "Maybe she just didn't want you anymore. Haven't you thought of that?" Shizuru's eyes focused on Mai, her gaze turning into a fiery glare, "No, I haven't Mai-_san._" Shizuru placed emphasis on the surname, her anger threatening to get out of control. "I did nothing wrong and everything had been well until that night she left. I don't know what happened but I am going to find out."

Mai took a step towards Shizuru, invading her personal space in a threatening manner. "You are far too full of yourself, not realizing that not everybody worships the ground you walk on."

Nao shifted uncomfortably when she realized that the temperature around them had grown hotter within the few seconds of their confrontation.

"Mai-san, I have a feeling you know something I don't. Would you like to share instead of trying to offend someone who could easily destroy you with the flick of a finger?" Shizuru said with a smirk in her face. Under normal circumstances Shizuru would not have let Mai's words get to her, and yet again under normal circumstances Mai wouldn't have been confrontational against Shizuru.

Nao was quick to act when she saw Mai's hand swing back, preparing to swing at the student council president. Haruka quickly stepped between the two girls as well, "That's enough. This is no time to fight." She said firmly. Mai was fuming as Shizuru merely shrugged. "Let's go. I can't waste anymore time."

"Haruka-chan, please keep us informed." Yukino said as Haruka stepped towards her. Haruka nodded before leaning in to kiss the shorter girl, "Will do."

As Haruka retreated into the car, Nao called out after her, "Please, find Natsuki and make sure she's okay."

She saw Haruka nod before entering the car and within seconds, the two sped away.

By now, Mai was halfway to her room as she had stormed away after the near-fight with Shizuru. She knew she would probably be beaten in a fight with Shizuru, and her common sense told her that her life would probably had been in danger if she had engaged the brunette in combat. Even with all that, Mai was still fuming.

"Mai."

Mai looked up as she stepped into the room to find Mikoto sitting on the bed. "What's wrong Mai?" Mikoto asked as she noticed her girlfriend's tense demeanor. Mai ignored her girlfriend's question as she walked to the bathroom. Mikoto followed after her, "Mai, talk to me."

Mai stepped into the bathroom and the only response she gave to the dark haired girl was slamming the door in her face.

The sun had now sat in the horizon as Nao sat on a bench in a park not far from the academy. After Haruka and Shizuru had left and both Mai and Yukino had retreated to their dorm rooms, Nao had decided to take a walk to the park, hoping to clear her mind.

Her silence remain unperturbed until she felt her cell phone vibrate.

**Where are you?**

Nao looked at the text in confusion, why would Shiho want to know where she was? She usually hooked up with her during school.

After typing a quick response, she settled back into the bench and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace that she did not have within her.

Few minutes passed before her eyes snapped open upon hearing voices coming towards her. She stood from her place in the bench and turned to find Yuuichi along with three other boys that Nao did not recognize. Her fight-or-flight kicked in within seconds as she saw a wicked grin spread on his lips.

"What the hell are you doing here Yuuichi?" She asked as she tried to keep her eyes on their group and making sure that they didn't try anything. Yuuichi smirked, "A little bird told me you were hanging here, so I thought I'd pay you a visit now that you're little friends aren't here."

Yuuichi motioned his friends who all moved and quickly surrounded Nao. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you better stop before I fuck you up Yuuichi." Trying to keep her fear in check, she attempted to materialize two metal knifes to protect herself, but one of the boys caused the temperature to drop far too low for the metal to be able to take shape , only remaining as metal blobs that fell to Nao's feet.

The other two boys quickly moved behind Nao to hold her in place. Nao kicked and tried to protect herself but they were far too strong for her. Yuuichi stepped towards her, happy his plan was working. Seeing terror in Nao's eyes was far more pleasing to him that he had thought it would be.

Nao grunted in pain as Yuuichi landed a blow into her stomach and causing sharp pain to run through her. She had gotten better from her fight with Erstin but getting beat up now was not gonna help.

"You bastard..." Nao managed to say as blood pooled in her mouth as Yuuichi hit her across the face. The iron taste of her blood sickened her as she felt blood run down from her forehead as well. She was unable to do anything as Yuuichi kept beating her until one of the guys cleared his throat, "Yuuichi, remember what you promised. I don't mind her beaten up, but bruised is different than necrophilia."

Nao's eyes widened as she heard the boy's words. Yuuichi laughed as he landed a final blow to her stomach. "Yea, yea. You can have her now."

A scream managed to escape her as the two guys behind her dragged her to the bench. She struggled against them but found her back on the bench within seconds. The guy in front of her smirked as he began to unbuckle his belt, "Hold her tight guys, I don't want her squirming around too much."

Nao felt tears running down her tightly closed eyes. She thought she was doomed when he spoke again, "Now I will teach you what a real man feels lik-"

He was unable to finish his sentence as he felt himself thrown back and crashing against a tree. His scream caused Nao to snap her eyes wide open and find the guy gone. Next she felt her restraints gone as she saw the two guys fly above her and crash against another tree, falling close to their friend. She quickly sat up and found Yuuichi pinned against the ground, his hands against his neck as he felt like he was suffocating. Nao looked up to find Nina standing over him, her hands in the direction of his neck.

"Nina!"

Nao rushed to the bluenette's side who was shaking with anger. "I should kill you Yuuichi." The boy underneath her clawed at the ground as he tried to cling to his life. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you."

Nina had been walking back towards the dorms from her part time job and as she took her usual route, she heard a chilling scream. She had rushed to the scene and her blood boiled when she spotted a bleeding Nao pinned to a bench with a guy getting ready to... Nina could not even process it all before she was using her powers to manipulate the force around her and slamming the boys away from Nao.

"Nina, don't..." Nao placed her hand shakily atop Nina's, "He isn't worth it. I don't want you to...please just leave him." Nao knew that if Nina killed Yuuichi, she would be given the death penalty. In their world, where magic was powerful and could also be deathly, it was dictated that whoever took away a life had to pay with his own. It was the law.

Feeling Nao's touch, Nina released Yuuichi. The blonde boy squirmed around the ground trying to breathe while he spotted his companions still passed out.

"Nina, I-" Nao didn't finish her thought as she found herself enveloped in Nina's arms. Soon, tears flowed as she leaned into Nina's hold and allowed the younger girl to hold her.

Yuuichi managed to get on his feet, and walked over to his companions who were now struggling to stand up, "I will fucking get you for this!" He yelled angrily before running away from the park. The three other boys soon followed behind in a rushed escape.

Nao and Nina paid no attention to them as they remained in their embrace, the soft breeze of the cool night dancing around them.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T GO THROUGH?" Haruka's loud yells echoed in the office. The lady cowered behind her desk but remained firm, "We got direct orders that Shizuru Viola was not allowed in Kruger for any reason whatsoever."

Shizuru sighed as ran her fingers through her chestnut tresses. "Let's go Haruka. I figured something like this would happen. If Saeko didn't want me to see Natsuki, it was only to be expected that she would have me banned from Kruger Island."

The blonde huffed and threw a glare to the lady before leaving the office after Shizuru. The two walked away from the docks where they had hoped to buy tickets to travel to Kruger. "You aren't giving up are you Shizuru?" Haruka asked from beside the brunette.

Shizuru smiled, "Never."

The pair walked around the docks for a while before approaching a man that was polishing a small boat. "Excuse me sir?" Shizuru spoke up.

The man who looked old and frail turned to the pair and smiled, "Hello girls, what can I do for ya?" Haruka glanced at Shizuru who smiled brightly, "Is this your boat sir?" She asked kindly, walking closer to the man who nodded, "Yes ma'am. She might be old, but she's my trusty partner."

Haruka watched as Shizuru walked even closer to the man and with a few words, led him inside his own ship. Once inside, Shizuru explained the situation and offered the man whatever money he wanted, convincing him that his "trusty partner" could use some maintenance and the money would help him.

Within an hour, they were sea-bound.

**-Review please? :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: WOW! JUST WOW! I am in awe of all the reviews I got and all the amazing feedback from YOU! MY READERS! Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy you all make me!**

**This chapter focuses more on the Nina and Nao Storyline, and sets up the Shizuru and Natsuki reunion! Also, I am a real real big fan of Grey's Anatomy. I am a big fan because I am in love with Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres. And I Am Most in love with them as a couple and for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you should check them out. Anywho, this is important.**

*****IMPORTANT*****

**The last episode of Grey's Anatomy was a musical episode where Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres) sang various songs, one of them being "The Story" which is originally sung by Brandi Carlile. Please PLease PLEase PLEAse PLEASe PLEASElisten to that song before reading this chapter. It is very important because as cheesy as it is, I have a character singing it. I know, I might have let my obsession with the song get to me. Maybe. Just maybe. But it is so worth it and I thought it fit perfectly! Please listen to it at " bit . ly / gAiQTS " (no spaces)**

**Again, please listen to it so you can get the feeling of it. It is such a powerful song and without hearing it it will kind of ruin it for you.**

**WOW long author's note. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I will have the next one ready pretty soon! And THE BIG NEWS WILL COME OUT NEXT CHAPTER! Please review and let me know if you like or not so I can update faster :)**

**~~~I'd like to thank my beta reader Silverveign for editing this chapter :) ~~~ **

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not the characters, the song, nothing. Nada!

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**6**

Bright sunlight crashed against Nina's face like a cat pawing at her, begging to be fed. She tried covering her face from the light and as she turned to her side, she felt smooth skin against her.

She opened her eyes and took in Nao's nude figure lying beside her. Several bruises covered her skin and brought memories back to Nina, causing anger to resurface within her. She had been so close to killing Yuuichi last night and she was sure that if it hadn't been for Nao, she would have killed the bastard.

Nao stirred in her sleep, and if it wasn't because Nina was perfectly still and quiet, she would've missed Nao whispering Nina's name in her slumber. Nina couldn't help smiling at that and leaned in to kiss Nao's soft shoulder, careful not to hurt her wounds.

After Nao had calmed down the night before, Nina brought her over to her dorm room and after taking care of her wounds, they had gone to bed. Nina had insisted that Nao slept but once the redhead was feeling better and over the shock, she wanted to be with Nina more than anything and show her how "thankful" she was.

Nao stirred once more in her sleep, this time turning fully towards Nina and wrapping an arm around the younger girl's waist. Nina had to suppress a moan when Nao cuddled closer to her, hiding her face in the valley between Nina's breasts. Nina tensed slightly as Nao's hand slow traveled down her body.

"Nao, no way you are sleeping."

Nao erupted in a fit of giggles, "What gave me away?"

"Oh I don't know, I really don't know." Nina replied teasingly as she brought Nao's hand back up to her chest.

Leaning in, Nao captured Nina's lips with her own and began a kiss that soon turned passionate and heated. Nina pulled back reluctantly, "You do know we have school right?"

Nao smirked, "We have time, let's use it."

With a smile, Nina nodded and leaned in to kiss Nao, ready to use their time.

"Natsuki. Get Up. Now!."

Saeko's voice was stern as she pulled the covers from her daughter's body that was curled up around a pillow in her bed. Natsuki remained motionless. "Natsuki, this is the last time I say this. Get up. We have to start getting you ready for tonight."

"How are you going to find a man who won't say the baby isn't his?" Natsuki's voice was hoarse from crying but her mother ignored that. "Don't worry your little head about that Natsuki. I will handle it."

"Now get up because it's time to start preparing for tonight's ball." With that, Saeko left her daughter in the large room that felt too large and too empty to Natsuki.

Deciding it would best to get up before angering her mother any further, Natsuki made her way towards the bathroom. After stripping herself down, Natsuki stepped into the shower and allowed the bitter cold water to fall against her skin.

There had to be another way, she thought. It had been almost a week since the night at the lake-side cabin with Shizuru. Almost a week since her life had fallen apart because of a careless mistake. _'I miss Shizuru so much. I wonder if she misses me. I wonder if she would ever forgive me for not telling her about the baby'_ Natsuki's mind wandered as she absentmindedly touched her belly. She still couldn't wrap her mind completely around the fact that she was pregnant, but that was not the biggest of her problems.

"I need to see Shizuru." She whispered to herself. _'She needs to know I'm pregnant. I can't get married to anybody else who isn't her."_ Natsuki decided, _"If she doesn't want me and the baby, then it will be different, but I can't do anything without telling her I am expecting her child. I love her, it is the least I can do. It was foolish of me not to tell her before."_

"I will tell her. I will find a way." With new-found strength and resolve, Natsuki stepped out of the shower and went to get dressed.

Back at Fukka academy, Nao walked side by side with Chie towards the lunchroom. The redhead had informed her friend about what had transpired the night before and about Natsuki as well.

"I still can't believe Yuuichi would go that far," Chie commented as they took a seat on an empty table. "I know," Nao nodded, "I'm scared he might try to hurt Nina or something."

Chie laughed, "Nina can take pretty good care of herself you know." "Yes, but I still worry." Nao responded as she bit into an apple.

"So like, how are things with you guys?" Chie asked after realizing that Nao really was worried for Nina's sake. Nao looked deeply into her apple before answering, "I love her Chie. I do and after last night I realized that no matter what, she loves me too. I don't want to lose her," she raised her eyes to meet Chie's, "I can't lose her."

"Wow," Chie said in awe, never having heard her friend speak so sincerely about someone. Nao's phone which sat atop the table began to vibrate, interrupting their conversation. Nao quickly picked it up, thinking it was Nina, but her hand shook slightly when she saw it was Shiho.

Meet me the science room now plz.

"What's wrong?" Chie asked with concern upon seeing her friend's hand shaking. "No-nothing. I have to go. I'll see ya later." Nao pushed back her chair and made her way towards the science room, unaware that a pair of green eyes were set on her the entire time.

Nina had finally finished her test and quickly rushed to the teacher's desk to turn it in. She wanted to see Nao as soon as possible and couldn't help but to smile as she walked towards the cafeteria. Before she made it there though, a figure got in her way.

"Nina, please come with me."

Nao stepped into the science room and found Shiho sitting on one of the lab tables. Nao's step quickened as she neared Shiho, "What the hell happened last night?" She asked with fury.

Shiho turned to her quickly, "Nao I'm so sorry, I didn't know Tate was going to do this to you," She looked the redhead up and down, "I'm sorry. He just asked for my phone because he said his broke. I had no idea."

"So you didn't know?" Nao asked, her gaze softening, "I thought you were part of it." Shiho shook her head, taking a step closer to the girl, "I would never do anything to hurt you." Raising a hand towards Nao's face, Shiho touched Nao's cheek lightly.

At that moment, the door clicked open and Nina stood in shock on the doorway. Nao turned towards the door in surprise, "Ni-Nina." Nao took a step towards Nina, but Nina held her hands up, "Don't Nao. Just don't." Nina turned on her heel and left, Erstin following behind her.

Shiho took a step closer to Nao, "Fuck her, just forget about her." Nao pushed Shiho away, "Get away from me. It's over. Whatever we had is over understand?" Shiho tried to protests but Nao ran out of the room after Nina.

"Nina!" Nao called out as Nina kept walking, now crossing the cafeteria towards the exit. Nao sprinted and grabbed her by the wrist, "Stop Nina, it's not what you think. Please listen to me."

Nina pulled away, "I thought we had something Nao. I really did, but we clearly don't. I am tired of your cheating." Tears brimmed the bluenette's eyes, "Now you can go fuck Shiho all you want. It's over between us."

Nina turned to leave again but Nao grabbed her arm, effectively stopped her and turning her around, "No Nina. I don't want Shiho, I met with her today because I thought she had something to do with what Yuuichi did to me last night." The whole cafeteria was now silent as they watched tears roll down one of iciest figures of the entire academy, "Please Nina, I love you. I don't want to lose you, I love you too much." Nina felt her tears down her cheeks as she heard Nao's please. She loved Nao but she was unsure whether she could deal with Nao cheating on her again. She wanted to believe Nao, but she didn't know if she could.

Erstin stood to the side, fuming as she saw Nao's confession. This was supposed to be her day, the day when Nina finally fell to her arms. She had finally gotten better from her fight with Nao, yet now again she was losing against her. "Stop lying to Nina!" Erstin yelled as she pushed Nao away from Nina.

Nao ignored Erstin, her gaze still set on Nina yet Nina turned towards Erstin, "Erstin, please stay out of this." "No!" Erstin replied angrily, "I'm tired of staying out things all the time or just watching from the sideline, not doing anything."

Nao watched the exchange and she looked around quickly, spotting Alyssa Searrs seating on a table nearby alongside with Miyu. Nao rushed to her quickly while Nina argued with Erstin, "Alyssa, you have your guitar right?" Alyssa shook her head and pointed. Nao wiped the tears from her face and smiled.

"Erstin please, stop." Nina begged as the blonde girl kept telling her how Nao had messed up and would cheat on her again and wasn't worth it. "No I won't," Erstin continued, "Nina I-"

_All of these lines across my face__  
__Tell you the story of who I am__  
__So many stories of where I've been__  
__And how I got to where I am_

_But these stories don't mean anything__  
__When you've got no one to tell them to__  
__It's true, I was made for you__  
__  
_Erstin was interrupted when Nao's voice broke through her arguing and the silence that had fallen on the cafeteria. Everyone turned and found Nao standing atop one of the tables with Alyssa sitting beside her playing the guitar.

_I climbed across the moun__taintops__  
__Swam all across the ocean blue__  
__I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules__  
__But baby I broke them all for you_

_Oh because even when I was flat broke  
You made me feel like a million bucks  
You do, and I was made for you_

Nao smiled as she followed the music, her voice sounding angelical and full of emotion as it reached Nina who took a step towards the redhead, listening intently to every word of the song she had heard a hundred times before, yet this time it was different.

_You see the smile that'__s on my mouth__  
__It's hiding the words that don't come out__  
__All of our friends who think that I'm blessed__  
__They don't know my head is a mess_

_No they don't know who I really am  
And they don't know what I've been through  
Like you do, and I was made for you_

The entire cafeteria was now clapping along to the rhythm of the song as Nao sang the last part of it, tears glazing her eyes as she kept her gaze fixed on Nina who also had tears on her eyes.

_All of these lines across my face__  
__Tell you the story of who I am__  
__So __many stories of where I've been__  
__And how I got to where I am_

_Oh but these stories don't mean anything  
When you've got no one to tell them to  
It's true, that I was made for you  
Oh yeah, and it's true that I was made for you_

As Nao finished the song, she breathed in deeply before jumping off the table. She walked towards Nina and stopped before her.

"Nina, I love you, and I meant every word of that song." Nao grabbed one of Nina's hands in her own and brought it to her lips, kissing it lightly. Nina felt her heart pound loudly as she leaned in and caught Nao in a soft and loving kiss.

The waves crashing against the rocks welcomed Shizuru and Haruka in to the island of Kruger.

Shizuru and Haruka waved off the man as he sailed away quickly, not wanting to risk getting caught "smuggling" people into the island illegally. "So, we're here!" Haruka announced as she carried their two duffelbags after having insisted on carrying them. They had left most of their stuff in their suitcase in the car back at Windbloom when Shizuru realized that they wouldn't have an easy trip to Kruger.

With a nod and small smile, Shizuru walked beside Haruka as they walked towards the busy streets of Kruger. The air was salty and as they left the beach, they found themselves amongst a flurry of people in the busiest avenue. "Why are all these people all freaking out?" Haruka asked as she tried hard to not get separated from her friend. Shizuru looked around and stopped when something caught her attention.

A poster hung on the old brick wall that they were walking by and the image on it grabbed Shizuru's attention like a magnet. "It's..." She extended her fingers towards the paper, "Natsuki."

Haruka turned towards the poster, "Oh wow, it is her." On the poster was a picture of Natsuki, clearly taken some time ago. On the bottom of the detailed poster were the words: _Royal Masquerade, all eligible bachelors are encouraged to come for a chance at the hand of Natsuki Kruger, daughter of Saeko Kruger, heiress to the throne of Kru__ger._

Shizuru tensed after reading the words, "They're trying to marry Natsuki off to some random man." Haruka nodded, "Sure seems that way."

The student council president walked towards a nearby bench, "What am I going to do Haruka?" She asked as she sat, not sure her legs would be able to hold her up for much longer. Haruka thought for a moment, "Well you know, it said bachelors were encouraged to come, but it wasn't discouraging anyone else to go..."

"What do you mean?" Shizuru asked as she looked at her friend intently.

Haruka grinned as she pointed to a stall across from them where a vendor tried to keep up with the mob that surrounded him trying to buy masks, "I say we better go over there and buy ourselves a couple of masks before they run out of them."

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Review? :)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have read, and especially to those of you who reviewed! I tried replying to all of your comments but if I missed you, I apologize, and allow me to take this chance to THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THAAANK YOU! It makes me so happy that people actually like this story! I'm glad that the whole Nao/Nina thing went well. Thank you again for reading and I'd like to thank again, my beta ****Silverveign for editing this chapter. Thank you my friend :)**

**Now without further ado**, **I present to you the next installment of this story. :)**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime/Mai-Otome.

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**7**

The music coming from the ballroom reached Natsuki as she stared at her reflection on the mirror. "You look beautiful Natsuki." Akane commented as she watched her cousin from her spot on the bed. Natsuki had finally opened up to her after a couple of days in the castle and had told her about Shizuru and about her pregnancy.

"Thank you Akane." Natsuki mumbled as she smoothed down the red silk dress that hugged her curves tightly. Seeing her cousin's demeanor, Akane rose from her spot and walked over to stand behind her cousin, placing a kind hand on her shoulder, "It will be okay Natsuki. Remember what I told you. You just have to endure the party tonight and tomorrow I will get you out of Kruger and back to Windbloom so you can find Shizuru and talk to her."

Natsuki smiled, "I owe you Akane. I really do."

"You're family Natsuki, you know I'd do anything to help you." Akane responded with a smile, "Now hurry up, you have a party waiting for you."

With a sigh, Natsuki turned towards the door, "Let's do this."

"Holy. Shit." Haruka said in awe as she gawked at the large castle of Kruger where the masquerade was taking place. Shizuru nodded but did not allow the grandeur of the castle to intimidate her. She had a mission. It was time to find Natsuki.

The pair stepped into the ball and soon found themselves lost in a sea of people dancing to the soft music that was being played. Shizuru had on a black tuxedo with her hair tied back in a tight pony tail while a black mask covered her face. To her side, Haruka wore a dress since her breasts were far too obvious even when she had tried binding them the way Shizuru had her own. Her blonde curls fell down her shoulders as she wore a white mask.

Nobody paid any attention to the couple as they walked through the crowd but before they made it across the large ball room, the music suddenly stopped playing when a man appeared before them atop the grand case of stairs.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman. Please welcome heiress to the throne, Saeko Kruger, and her daughter, Natsuki Kruger."

As soon as the man finished, a soft music began as Saeko appeared, followed by a less-than-happy Natsuki. The heiress to the throne smiled to the large crowd, "Thank you all for joining us tonight. I would like to thank all the eligible bachelors in particular for coming and wishing to meet my daughter Natsuki." Saeko turned to Natsuki, nudging her forward, "I hope you enjoy all enjoy your night and that my daughter meets the special man in her life."

Hearing Saeko's words boiled Shizuru's blood, but she controlled herself and watched as Saeko and Natsuki proceeded down the stairs, soon to be enveloped by the hungry guests who wished to speak with the two women. The party resumed along with the music and Shizuru felt her arm being tugged by Haruka whose eyes she could only see, and they told her to be patient.

Natsuki felt like she was suffocating.

Every couple of minutes her mother shoved a new man into her face who tried to show her how he was "better" than all the other men she had meet throughout the night. She hadn't been in the party for even an hour and she already had a murderous glint in her eyes as she tried to escape from the mob that seemed intent on making her escape impossible. Moving to her side, she attempted to leave whoever it was she was talking to, not caring enough to know his name, and in the corner of her eye she saw a pair of crimson eyes that were set on her.

Natsuki whipped her head around instantly, her heart beating hard as her eyes scanned the crowd, but finding nothing. "Natsuki-sama, is everything okay?" The man whom Saeko had sent Natsuki's way asked as he noticed the girl's odd behavior. Natsuki turned back to him, "It's nothing..ah...John..."

"It's William..." He replied, slightly upset that the woman he had been talking to for at least ten minutes did not remember his name. "Oh yes, yes." Natsuki said absentmindedly as her eyes continued to scan the area unsuccessfully, "Sorry Willis, I have to go."

William looked after Natsuki's departing figure and huffed, "My name is William! William!"

Natsuki ignored the man as she moved through the crowd. _'I could swearI saw Shizuru...her eyes...it had to be her...'_ She looked around and frowned when she realized that it had been only her imagination. After all, Shizuru had been banned from Kruger. There was no way it was her.

Natsuki sighed as she moved towards the gardens in hope to catch some fresh air, but was stopped when an arm wrapped around her waist and out-of-nowhere, she was pulled against a warm body that swayed her to the slow music. "What the hell? Who do you think you are!" Natsuki snarled angrily as she struggled against the person who had pulled her against her will. She tried pulling away but when she was pulled closely, she inhaled the distinct smell that was forever engraved in her mind.

Her eyes widened as she looked up and through the mask's openings, saw the crimson eyes that she had needed to see for so long.

"Shizuru...it really is you."

Shizuru lowered her head next to Natsuki's ear, "Yes my Natsuki, it is me."

Natsuki felt a tear roll down her cheek, not being able to help the overwhelming happiness she felt inside of her, "Shizuru, I am so sorry, I miss you so much. Please forgive me."

The brunette smiled as she took Natsuki's hand and led her outside towards the gardens, making sure that nobody spotted them as they made their exit.

Once outside, the cool air surrounded them instantly, yet they did not mind as they moved to a secluded area where nobody could see them. Safely away from prying eyes, Shizuru turned to Natsuki and was surprised to find tears streaming down the bluenette's eyes.

"Nat-Natsuki..." Shizuru was at a loss for words, "I'm sorry I-"

Natsuki did not allow her to finish as she pulled Shizuru into a passionate kiss.

Shizuru could feel the salty taste of Natsuki's tears in her kiss and felt her heart was once more complete. After a few minutes of their kiss, oxygen became a problem and Natsuki pulled back. "Shizuru, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting mad at you, I'm sorry for leaving, for lying, for...for..."

Crimson eyes were set on her, waiting for Natsuki to finish, but when Natsuki remained silent, Shizuru smiled and hugged Natsuki against her, "Please don't leave me again Natsuki. I can't stand it."

Natsuki began to cry unto Shizuru's shoulder. It was now or never. She had planned on leaving Kruger the next day to look for Shizuru but now that Shizuru was here, it only meant she had to tell her now. She couldn't wait any longer. She loved Shizuru and would accept any and all responsibility for her actions.

Back inside the castle, Saeko Kruger searched for her daughter frantically, yet her demeanor remained calm as she smiled and nodded politely to all her guests. Scanning the area she felt anger grow within her as she was unable to spot Natsuki anywhere in the room.

"Excuse me, I will be back." Saeko excused herself from a guest and walked towards the gardens where she hoped to find Natsuki. She knew her daughter and knew that Natsuki did not like large crowds, much less having those large crowds all over her. The only reasonable place was the garden where Natsuki would probably be taking a break from all the people. Stepping outside, she looked around quietly, not seeing her daughter anywhere, and decided to look a bit further in.

"Shizuru, there is something I must tell you." Natsuki's voice was soft, hardly above a whisper. Shizuru nodded and waited for Natsuki. The bluenette swallowed hard, feeling her mouth become dry, "Shi-Shizuru...remember the night of your birthday...when we...you know..."

Shizuru smiled, "How could I forget it?" Nervously, Natsuki set her emerald eyes on Shizuru's crimson. "Shizuru, I...I didn't recite the spell. I'm sorry."

Natsuki's words sank slowly into Shizuru's mind as she tried to process what Natsuki was trying to say. "You didn't...I didn't either..." Shizuru knew what spell Natsuki was referring to, but her mind took an extra second to realize what exactly Natsuki meant.

"Natsuki...you...you're pregnant?" Shizuru asked as her heart pounded loudly in her heart, and when Natsuki moved her gaze downward, she knew the answer.

"I'm sorry Shizuru...I'm sorry."

Shizuru's eyes widened, her mind racing with thoughts of what Natsuki's pregnancy really meant for her, for her life and her future. But as soon as she set her eyes on Natsuki who was now sobbing quietly, none of that mattered.

Natsuki tensed when she felt Shizuru's arms around her. "I love you Natsuki. So much. I will make sure that our child is the happiest child in all of Earl."

Relaxing into Shizuru's hold, Natsuki's tears now turned into tears of joy. She had embraced herself for Shizuru's words of hatred and anger, but instead she had received Shizuru's love. "I'm sorry for not telling you, I was so scared. I thought you would hate me."

"I could never hate you Natsuki. I wish you would've told me but I understand you were scared and confused." Shizuru lifted Natsuki's chin up to look at her softly, "It won't be easy, especially with your mother not accepting our relationship, but I promise you that I will take care of you and our baby and protect both of you with my life."

Shizuru leaned in to kiss Natsuki again but this time they were pulled apart when Saeko pulled Shizuru away from Natsuki roughly. "How dare you!" Saeko yelled angrily, "You enter Kruger illegally and then come to try and take my daughter away?" She had found the pair after walking deeper into the gardens and although she had not heard their conversation, she had recognized Shizuru immediately since she had let her hair down after she was alone with Natsuki.

Natsuki ran to Shizuru's side who was glaring at Saeko, "You have no right to keep Natsuki from me, she is the love of my life and she is carrying _my_ child." Saeko's eyes widened in shock, turning to Natsuki, "You told her? I told you that you were forbidden from telling her! You will marry who I tell you to marry! A man!"

Shizuru stepped in front of Natsuki, using her body as a shield, "Natsuki will not marry anybody she doesn't want. She is my girlfriend and we are having a child together, like it or not. I will not allow you to take her away from me."

Saeko's glare intensified, "Watch me."

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**A/N: Review please! Thanks :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**8**

Aika walked briskly down the hallway, unable to believe what her daughter was capable of doing it. Less than an hour ago the party Saeko had arranged for Natsuki was in full swing but now the castle had cleared of guests as she made her way to the lower parts of the castle which had been closed off long time ago.

Natsuki looked up, her cheeks stained with tears as she saw her grandmother approach them. Saeko rolled her eyes at the sight of her mother and flinched when Aika pulled her roughly by the arm away from Natsuki.

"What is your problem?" Saeko tried to pull away but her mother's grip was firm, "Let go of me!" Aika released Saeko's arm once they were on the other side of the hall.

"What the hell are you doing, Saeko?" Aika asked through gritted teeth, "What makes you think you can keep that girl here in the dungeon? Don't you realize who she is and how much power her family holds in Windbloom? If we want to keep a good diplomatic relationship with Windbloom you must stop this madness right now."

"I don't care about diplomatic relationships right now, I just care about my daughter and her well-being." Saeko retorted as she glanced at Natsuki who was standing across from a door that was flanked by two guards. The shadows from the torches that lit the halls danced silently as Saeko turned her gaze back to Aika, "That girl entered the island illegally and infiltrated my party to try to take Natsuki away from her home. That is something that I will not allow."

Aika's eyes narrowed, "You don't care about her well-being, you only care about your image. This whole party was against Natsuki's will and what you are doing right now I will not tolerate. Her parents will find out and we will be in over our heads. You will be lucky if they do not file charges against you."

"I can legally hold her overnight until tomorrow when I will have her deported," Saeko said, having already made sure she was still withing legal grounds, "If her parents want to wage a war against me, they will have it. But I will not allow that girl to take my Natsuki away."

Saeko turned and walked to Natsuki, "Let's go Natsuki, you do not belong here." Natsuki pulled away as Saeko tried to grab her arm, "I dare you to take me away." Anger flared in her eyes as she saw her mother shrug, "As you wish Natsuki, but that door will not open until tomorrow when she will be sent out of the island and you will never seen her again."

The departing footsteps echoed in the silent hall before the loud pound of Natsuki's fists against the metal door filled the emptiness that was left behind.

Shizuru choked back a sob as she ran her hand down the cool metal that seemed to burn her skin, "Natsuki, please don't hurt yourself," She begged, knowing how desperate Natsuki must feel, "Everything will be okay."

The voice was barely above a whisper, muffled by the heavy door, but Natsuki heard it. She moved to be as close as the guards would let her to the door, "I'm so sorry, Shizuru."

"We will find a way," Shizuru replied through the door, "For our child."

Natsuki could not hold back her tears as she crawled back against the wall across from Shizuru's cell, wrapping her arms around herself.

_The anger coming from Saeko was almost tangible as she called a couple of guards that were patrolling the garden, "Guards! Take this woman away from my daughter!" _

_Natsuki placed herself between her mother's guards and Shizuru, her hands suddenly becoming covered with a light frost as she waited for the guards to attack them._

_Shizuru felt the fire within her stir, wanting nothing more than to burn the men alive, not wanting to be separated from Natsuki but she knew it would only make the situation worse. Her mind was racing as it was, trying to fully grasp the news that Natsuki had given her, and although she was filled with joy, she also feared for the uncertainty of their situation. _

_Feeling a warm hand on her own, Natsuki turned in shock to see Shizuru's ruby eyes, "Shizuru, what are you doing?" Shizuru smiled sadly before stepping forward, "It's okay, Natsuki."_

_Natsuki felt her heart drop as Shizuru allowed the men to escort her without resisting. Saeko smiled triumphantly as she directed them to take her around the castle as to not alert the guests before she went to dismiss them, knowing that Natsuki would not be cooperative any longer. _

Natsuki had followed them and had not left the outside of Shizuru's cell and when her mother came down after dismissing her guests, Natsuki had tried to change her mother's mind to no avail.

"_Mom, please don't do this." Shizuru heard outside the metal door and could hear the way Natsuki could hardly speak through the tears, "Shizuru did nothing wrong. You can't keep her here."_

_A strong humid smell filled the cell which had not been used in what seemed decades if the spider webs and rusty metal bars on the small window where anything to go by. Shizuru took in her surroundings carefully as she listened to the two women outside._

"_She got you pregnant, Natsuki!" Saeko yelled, knowing her guards were sworn to secrecy, "I will keep her here until I am able to have her taken back to Windbloom and she will not get anywhere near you again." Saeko saw as Natsuki's tears flowed freely, but no matter how hard it was to see her own child cry, she knew she was doing the right thing. _

Aika remained silent as she watched Natsuki crying quietly from her spot a few feet away.

It was odd, Aika realized, but she felt as if she was taken back twenty three years and she was watching a seventeen year old Saeko crying on the ground, unable to control herself after hearing the news of her sister, Aika's older daughter.

Aika knew that it was that event that had completely changed Saeko, and even though it had been hard on the entire family, mostly herself since she had lost her daughter, she knew that Saeko had been traumatized and had not recovered, no matter how many years had passed.

It was heartbreaking now to see that Saeko was inflicting similar pain on her own daughter in an attempt to protect her, not realizing that it was Saeko whom Natsuki needed protecting from.

"I'm sorry." Aika whispered softly as she walked to Natsuki and laid a hand on her shoulder, "I am so sorry." Natsuki nodded weakly as her grandmother left, not really blaming her. She knew that her grandmother had her hands tied in this situation.

A few hours passed and the moon's light was shining brightly through Shizuru's window, she was feeling tired and could hear Natsuki's occasional sob, and as much as it pained her, she could not do anything until the morning when Saeko returned. She tried to think of ways to get Natsuki and herself out safely but from inside the cell, it seemed impossible.

"Shh...Shizuru!" Shizuru's eyes snapped open as she moved over to the window and saw Haruka smiling up at her, "Are you okay?"

"Haruka-chan!" Shizuru exclaimed as softly as she could, trying to quiet the relief she felt at seeing her friend so the guards wouldn't hear. "I thought they had taken you in as well, what happened?"

Haruka steadied herself in the rocks she had summoned with her earth mastery to keep her in place beside the dungeon that sat on the edge of the castle. The dungeons were placed strategically on the side where any one who attempted to break out would fall to their deaths on the waters at the bottom.

"When I saw you leave with Natsuki, I followed and kept a close watch from inside. I saw when the guards took you but I knew I'd be of more help to you from the outside than sitting beside you in a cell." Haruka replied as she looked in to the cell, "Where's your girl?"

"She's on the other side of the door. "Shizuru replied, "I'm glad you weren't caught as well Haruka-chan, but how will we be able to get out?" Shizuru asked, not sure Haruka would be able to break through the wall without alerting the guards.

Before Haruka could say anything, the metal door swung open. Shizuru turned quickly, unsure of what was going on and couldn't help but smile and feel great relief when Natsuki ran into her arms. Shizuru hugged Natsuki and looked up to see the Queen of the Island of Kruger, Aika, standing with the two guards at her feet as they appeared to be sleeping.

"We have to get you out of here." Aika stated as she entered the cell. Seconds later, the wall began to crumble as Haruka destroyed it and made a hole big enough for the two to escape.

Aika walked towards Shizuru, stopping a few feet from her. She saw how the girl's eyes had puffed up from crying, yet there was a look of determination in her eyes, and Aika knew she was making the right choice. "I am entrusting you with my granddaughter," Aika glanced at Natsuki, "Go down to the beach behind the castle and an old friend of mine will be waiting for you. He will take you to Windbloom where Saeko will be unable to do anything without taking action against Windbloom and for that to happen she would have to go through the council of Kruger first because even though Natsuki is her daughter, the child she carries is yours too, Shizuru."

Shizuru nodded and smiled fondly towards the bluenette.

"Are your parents supporting of your relationship with my Natsuki?" Aika asked, hoping that Shizuru's parents were nothing like Saeko. "Of course," Shizuru said, grabbing Natsuki's hand in her own, "They have always been supportive and they love Natsuki. If we can make it back to Windbloom, I am sure they will help us in whatever manner they can."

"Good," Aika followed the two to the exit that Haruka had made, "By the time Saeko can get anything through the council, I hope she will have changed her mind and realize that she is not being reasonable, or that we find another way to make sure she can't force you to marry anybody you don't want, Natsuki."

Natsuki hugged her grandmother, "Thank you so much, grandma."

"I just want you to be happy." Aika hugged her granddaughter back before hugging Shizuru, "Take care of her. I will do everything I can here to ensure you two and your child are happy."

Aika watched as the girls disappeared into the night, her heart anxious as she nervously made her way back to the upper levels of the castle.

Down at the docks, just like Aika had said, was a dim light on a boat that rocked lightly against the waves. The three neared the boat and Haruka and Shizuru immediately recognized the old man who had helped them make it into the island. The old man also recognized them.

"Its you girls again! I had a feeling I'd be seeing you again." He said with a smile as he helped them board his boat.

Natsuki sat next to Shizuru, snuggling into her girlfriend's warmth as Haruka sat across from them. The boat started and began to sail away from the shore, on its way to Windbloom.

Shizuru took a deep breath as she wrapped her arm around Natsuki and laid a kiss on the bluenette's forehead. Natsuki watched as the castle disappeared in the distance and soon, the sound of the lapping waves lulled her to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**9**

The silence of the room engulfed the trio as they entered their room which had two queen sized beds. Haruka walked over to the small fridge and swung the door open, frowning upon finding only a couple of water bottles.

Shizuru followed Natsuki as she walked over to the bed closest to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. "I'm so tired," Natsuki said as she took a seat on the bed, "and hungry." Shizuru smiled and nodded, "Haruka and I will go grab us some dinner."

Natsuki nodded, "Ano, Shizuru..." Shizuru looked at her girlfriend questioningly, "Yes, Natsuki?" Natsuki glanced at Haruka who stood by the door and lowered her voice to a whisper, "Do you think we could get some clothes?" Shizuru's eyes ran down Natsuki, realizing the t-shirt her girlfriend was wearing was damped from the hours on the boat. Natsuki's grandmother had sent the three girls a change of clothes with the captain so that they wouldn't arrive at Windbloom in their formal attire which would draw unwanted attention to them.

"I'll see what I can do." Shizuru replied as she gave her a quick kiss before exiting the hotel room. Shizuru and Haruka walked silently down the hall to the reception desk before exiting the building. The sun was just coming up on the horizon as the two walked away from the small hotel. They had arrived at a small coastal town and had quickly found lodging before the sun rose.

Haruka broke the silence, "How much cash do we have left?" Knowing that their bank accounts would certainly be traced, they couldn't risk making any withdrawals. Shizuru dug into her pocket to count the money, "We have enough," She said as she placed it back, "With the cash we had with us plus the money Aika-san gave us we should be good for at least a week in the hotel plus any expenses we have."

"I hope we don't stay here that long." Haruka commented as they made their way into a small diner whose morning clientele was just beginning to arrive. Shizuru did not reply as she ordered food for Natsuki and herself before Haruka put in her own order. They took a seat on the farthest boot available as they waited for their food.

"We need to figure out what to do." Shizuru said as she looked out the window, "With our situation now and what's going to happen in four months."

"Well, in four months you are going to be a mother, but for now we need to figure out how to keep Saeko from taking Natsuki from you." Haruka said, unsure of how they would accomplish their goal. She felt bad for her friend, having no idea how the brunette must feel with her newly acquired responsibilities.

Shizuru turned to Haruka, "I don't know how." Her crimson eyes became glazed with tears, "I can't figure out how to keep Natsuki safe, much less how I will be able to care for both her and our child."

Haruka stared silently as Shizuru's tears stained her cheeks, "I love Natsuki, I do. But this is all very sudden. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Reaching across the table, Haruka took Shizuru's shaky hand in her own, "Shizuru, whatever happens, you will get through it with Natsuki." Shizuru looked into Haruka's eyes, willing herself to believe her friend's words as she continued, "And you have me and Yukino and your other less significant friends and of course your parents and grandparents and we will help you each step of the way." Haruka smiled softly, "We won't let you down. I certainly can't wait to meet your little one. I bet she will be just as much of a trouble maker as Natsuki."

Shizuru couldn't help but smile, "Thank you Haruka-chan. I can't wait either."

The pair received their food and on their way back to the hotel, stopped by a small clothing store and bought a few simple changes of clothes for each of them. Shizuru was not too comfortable wearing t-shirts but it was basically the only thing they could afford with their budget.

It had been almost an hour since Shizuru and Haruka had left, and Natsuki grew restless and decided to surf the web on a complimentary tablet that the hotel provided for all its guests. In their world, the internet was a major part of their technological culture and was available for everyone to use, Windbloom being one of the most advanced by ensuring tablets were available virtually everywhere at no charge for its citizens.

She swiped page after page of boring news until something caught her attention. She clicked on it and felt her heart drop as she realized it was news from Kruger Island and quickly played the video feed.

"_The heiress to the throne, Saeko Kruger, has made a charge against Windbloom citizen, Shizuru Viola and has accused her of kidnapping her daughter, Natsuki Kruger, and keeping her hostage in Windbloom. The government of Windbloom has started its own investigation but refuses to allow Kruger authorities in the country to aid in their investigation. So far, the news have been kept quiet in the country of Windbloom thanks to the weight that the suspect kidnapper's family name carries in that country. We will keep you updated and may the princess be found safely! _

Shizuru and Haruka entered the room just as the video finished. Natsuki looked up as they placed the food on a small table and the bag with clothes upon the bed.

"My mother is accusing you of kidnapping."

Haruka's fist landed on the table in anger, "Dammit. Now what are we supposed to do?"

Shizuru figured Saeko would do something like that once she found out of their escape, so she wasn't too surprised. Walking over to where Natsuki had laid the tablet on the table, Shizuru grabbed it and began to look for the train schedule, "Now we stop losing time."

Blue locks swayed lightly in the salty breeze as a boat approached the dock. Tapping her foot impatiently, she watched as a woman and a man made their way towards her. The couple were around her own age, the woman with dark chestnut tresses that went past her shoulders while the man had short black hair and was of the same muscular built as her own husband.

"Saeko Kruger?" The man asked as they approached her and before she could answer, Saeko felt the stinging pain of a slap on her cheek, her hand flying to cover her face instantly, "How dare you!"

Katashi quickly grabbed hold of his wife, "Sumika! Calm down!"

"What have you done with my Shizuru?" Sumika asked through gritted teeth, holding back only because of Katashi. Saeko glared at the woman who had dared laid a hand on her, "The question is what your daughter has done with Natsuki."

Aika made her way to the scene where she saw her daughter arguing with whom she guessed were Shizuru's parents.

Sumika and Katashi turned as an older woman approached them. Her hair was gray with age but her emerald eyes were identical to Saeko's and Natsuki's.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" Saeko asked once the woman had reached them. Aika ignored Saeko, turning her attention fully to the couple, "You must be Shizuru-san's parents."

Sumika observed the woman carefully, and nodded. Aika understood their hostility, "Please follow me. I will tell you everything you need to know."

Saeko watched in shock as the trio walked off towards Aika's limousine that waited for them. Saeko quickly followed them, "Mother, what do you think you are doing?" Aika ignored Saeko until the couple entered the limousine. She turned towards her daughter, "You have done enough damage, Saeko. Do not interfere."

Seething with anger, Saeko stood silently as the limousine sped away towards the castle.

As the limousine drove away, Aika began to explain to Sumika and Katashi what had happened the night before.

"You mean that your daughter had imprisoned Shizuru?" Sumika asked, "How could she do that?" Katashi grabbed Sumika's hand softly, "Let her speak, love. There must be an explanation."

Aika nodded, "Shizuru-san entered the country illegally since Saeko had banned her and found Natsuki. Unfortunately, Saeko also found them. By Kruger's laws, she could keep Shizuru overnight imprisoned but upon the next day, she had to have the council's permission to keep doing so and the council would have never allowed it."

She went on to explain to them the way she had helped the girls escape.

"Why haven't they reached us then?" Sumika asked, unable to hold back the tears.

"By now they probably know about the kidnapping investigation. They won't want to risk getting caught if that's the case, and any form of communication would be a risk." Katashi said after realizing that Shizuru would not risk their discovery if it could mean losing Natsuki.

Sumika turned her attention to Aika, "Not that I am not grateful, but why are you helping them so much?"

"Well," Aika glanced out the window and saw they were almost at the castle, "There is something else you must know.

Katashi and Sumika waited for her to continue.

"My granddaughter Natsuki is pregnant, and it is Shizuru's child."

The limousine stopped in front of the castle as they arrived.

Haruka exited the train as she arrived at the Fuuka station.

She made her way to a taxi and shortly after found herself walking up to her dormitory building and making her way to Yukino's dorm.

She reached her girlfriend's room and knocked softly. A few seconds passed before the door opened and Yukino's eyes widened in surprise, "Haruka-chan?!"

Haruka pulled Yukino into her and kissed her deeply, not realizing until now how much she had missed her after everything that had transpired.

After a few seconds, Haruka released Yukino, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Haruka-chan." Yukino replied and quickly ushered Haruka inside. Haruka was glad that Yukino did not have a roommate as she sat on the sofa. Yukino brought over a cup of tea for her girlfriend before the blonde even had to ask. Haruka thanked her before sipping the warm liquid.

"What happened Haruka-chan? Miss Maria spoke to me this afternoon about the accusation against Shizuru-san, and asked me if I knew anything." Yukino asked as she rubbed Haruka's leg absentmindedly.

Haruka turned to her in shock, "How many people know about this?"

"Not many, she said that she wanted me to be discrete about it." Yukino explained, "They are trying to keep it quiet, not wanting to tarnish the Viola's name. I was worried because I knew you were with Shizuru-san but you were not mentioned in any of the reports I found."

"Natsuki's mother never found out about me, that's why." Haruka said as she placed her tea cup on Yukino's small table, "Shizuru and Natsuki are still in hiding, and since I'm not being investigated they send me to get help. They can't make any calls, but I have to find Shizuru's parents and tell them what is going on. They are our best bet for help."

Yukino nodded, "I see. But why are they running away from Natsuki-san's mother?"

Haruka grabbed Yukino's hand, "Shizuru got Natsuki pregnant and Natsuki's mother is not happy about it. She tried to get Natsuki to marry some random guy just so that she wouldn't be with Shizuru."

"Pre-Pregnant?!" Yukino could not believe what she was hearing, "Like...As in, they are having a baby?"

With a laugh, Haruka walked over to Yukino's bed, "Yes, the bubuzuke is having a baby with that criminal. Isn't that weird?"

Yukino helped Haruka take off her shoes and change, "I will go look for her parents tomorrow. I cannot call them, so I will have to seek them out personally." Haruka explained, " But I am so worn out. I need a good rest before I can do any more. I am sure they will understand right?"

Turning the lights off, Yukino settled in beside Haruka, "They will, Haruka-chan. They are resting as well right now, I'm sure. Tomorrow I will help you as well."

Haruka quickly fell asleep with Yukino at her side who whispered softly, "Tomorrow will be a new day."


	10. Chapter 10

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**10**

On the horizon, Shizuru watched was the sun began to peek out onto the morning.

Taking another sip from her coffee, Shizuru yawned sleepily. She had not managed to sleep for more than a couple hours, her mind being overwhelmed with worry and fear for their current situation.

She looked into the room and saw as Natsuki slept soundly in their bed, her arms grabbing onto Shizuru's pillow, missing the warmth that now sat lonely in the balcony.

Shizuru turned and looked out to the ocean in front of her. Somewhere far along the sea, Saeko was looking for them and would do anything to take Natsuki and her child away.

The thought alone of losing Natsuki again was painful, and now to think her child would be taken away too was just unbearable. She glanced at Natsuki's sleeping form and she knew that she wanted to wake up every day to that. She knew that she wanted a life with Natsuki, and their child, and any other children they had, but their present worried her.

There was only a few months left of school before they graduated, and if they missed too many days, they might not be able to have the required attendance to graduate. Even if they did manage to graduate, what would she do? How could Shizuru provide for Natsuki and their child?

She knew her parents would help them, but this was her responsibility, and didn't want to lay it on others to pick up after her duties. Shizuru had planned on joining in the family company after graduation and continuing her studies for advancement there, but now with this, she wasn't sure how she would be able to do it.

Natsuki hadn't been sure of what to do with her life after graduation, but now her options were far lesser if she had to care for a child. Not that Shizuru expected Natsuki to do all the caring, but Shizuru wasn't sure how it would all work.

If she was honest to herself, Shizuru wasn't sure how any of it would work out. She had heard of couples who had unexpected pregnancies, and while most of them were doing good, some weren't, and that worried her. The younger the couple was, the more the odds were against them it seemed.

Shizuru turned and slid the glass door open. She stepped in and placed her coffee on the counter before grabbing the tablet from the bedside table. She climbed on the bed and leaned against the headboard, Natsuki wrapping her arms around Shizuru's waist unconsciously as she kept sleeping peacefully.

Looking for solution ideas on the web, Shizuru began her search.

There had to be a way to keep her family together.

Nao approached the table where she saw Aoi, Chie and Nina already eating but before she could reach them, Chie spotted her and walked over to her, "Ne Nao, come here a sec."

Chie pulled Nao away from their table until they were far away from prying ears. "What is it, Chie? I'm hungry you know." Nao said as she dropped her book bag on the grass.

"Have you heard anything about Shizuru-san and Natsuki?" Chie asked as she glanced around them every few seconds, making sure nobody would hear them. Nao found Chie's behavior unusual, "No...Why? Have you?"

"Yes," Chie replied, lowering her voice. "Last night I happened to get get a glimpse of a news report from Kruger Island where they accused Shizuru-san of kidnapping!"

"What? You can't be serious." She quickly took out her phone, "I need to see this."

Chie shook her head, "That's the weird part. I looked it up again and there is nothing. All the servers linked to Kruger have been temporarily blocked by Windbloom, which in itself is very weird. Most people probably haven't noticed since Kruger, although being a neighboring country, doesn't get too much attention from Windbloom because of it's small size and irrelevant news. But if what they are saying its true, it would make sense that their news would be censored considering how much power Shizuru-san's family has in the country."

"No, this can't be true." Nao said, shaking her head as she tried to look up any news from the country but all channels being blocked.

"Shizuru-san has been missing for a few days now, and so has Haruka-san, but I was told that somebody saw Haruka-san and Yukino-san leaving their dorm very early this morning, and neither of them turned up for class today." Chie searched Nao's face for any indication she was keeping something to herself, "Do you know anything about this?"

"No, but we need to figure out what is happening. What if Shizuru really did kidnap Natsuki? Although that seems unlikely being as how Natsuki is pregnant with her child and..." Nao trailed off once she realized what she had said upon seeing the shock in Chie's face.

"Holy crap..." Chie could barely formulate words, "You mean that...You mean Shizuru-san and Natsuki..."

Nao rolled her eyes, "Yes, Chie." She glanced around them nervously. "You cannot say anything okay? I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

Chie nodded, "Yea, of course. But how did you know? Since when?"

Sighing, Nao figured she might as well just spill everything. At any rate, Chie was a good friend and even if she did enjoy sharing private information, she knew when to keep her mouth shut.

"That's the reason Natsuki left I am guessing. When she went to visit her parents they probably found out, and that's why she didn't come back. I tried to get in touch with her but I never got through to her." Nao explained, quickly typing out a text message as she went on, "Shizuru probably went after her, and took Haruka with her I would say. But I don't know anything about this kidnapping business."

"I can't believe it!" Chie said as she tried to process all the new information, "I can't believe Natsuki, of all people, would get pregnant. I mean, of the two, I would have seen Shizuru-san as the more motherly one."

"Are you stupid, Chie?" Nao asked, as she read a message, "That is the last thing you should be thinking about. For now, the matter is that Shizuru is wanted for kidnapping if what you say is true. We need to figure out what is going on with them."

Nao raised her phone and allowed Chie to read the message, "It's from Yukino."

Chie read the message out loud, "Do not worry, they are okay..." She raised her eyes to meet Nao's, "That's all?"

"She probably can't say much." Nao placed her phone in her pocket and picked up her bag, "Let's have lunch. I don't think there is much we can do right now."

Nodding, Chie followed Nao back to the table.

"You will not!" Saeko's chair skidded against the floor as she stood abruptly, glaring at everyone in the room, "I won't allow that girl to get away with taking my daughter."

"That girl has a name, Kruger-san, so I suggest you use it." Kamiko warned, getting fed up with the woman. She and her husband Hiro had been called by their son Katashi to come to the Island after telling them what had transpired. Hiro decided to stay behind in case Shizuru went looking for them, sending Kamiko by her self along with a couple of their lawyers.

Mitsuo cleared his throat, "Please understand our position. Our Natsuki is now pregnant with your daughter's child and now they are both out there alone. We are not sure if they are safe or not."

"This wouldn't have happened if your wife wouldn't have tried to keep our daughters apart even though they obviously love each other!" Sumika could not hold back her anger. Aika had told them everything that had transpired and saying she was angry was an understatement.

Saeko directed her glare at Sumika, "If your daughter hadn't gotten my Natsuki pregnant, none of this would've happened!"

The bickering between the two women continued until Aika was finally able to get them both to calm down enough to allow the lawyers to speak.

"Well," He began as he handed a piece of paper to both Saeko and Mitsuo, "Windbloom's law will back the Viola family since Natsuki was not taken by force, but instead went with Shizuru-san by her own choice. The kidnapping accusation cannot be held past the seventy two hours without further proof of the fact, and without it will be dismissed."

"Just how do you know that Natsuki was not taken by force?" Saeko asked incredulously. The lawyer and the Violas all turned to Aika who had spoken to the lawyers before Saeko and Mitsuo arrived.

"Because I helped them escape, Saeko. That's how they know she wasn't taken by force." Aika said, her emerald eyes meeting her daughter's own which widened in shock.

Saeko felt immense anger surge from within her. How could her own mother betray her? "How could you do this to me?"

"Natsuki wants to be with Shizuru, and now they will have a family. I will not allow you to intervene in their happiness." Aika explained. She glanced at her side where her husband Kei sat looking on in bewilderment. Saeko also turned to her father but she knew that he would be of no help. He had never helped her before in anything, so she knew not to expect much from him anyway.

Saeko walked away and exited the room silently. Mitsuo did not look at anybody as he wordlessly followed his wife.

The lawyer quickly broke the silence left behind by the heiress.

"While the kidnapping accusation will be dismissed by tomorrow, the fact is that Saeko-san and Mitsuo-san may still bring Natsuki back until she turns eighteen and decides to leave Kruger. By my understanding, that would be a month before the baby's due date, but in case anything were to happen and the baby was born in Kruger, it would make it much harder for Shizuru-san to be granted parentage rights based on this country's laws." He said as he scrolled down his data pad.

"Is there nothing we can do to keep Natsuki with Shizuru in Windbloom?" Katashi asked, "I mean, the girls have only a few months left of school before they graduate. It would just be unfortunate if they couldn't graduate because of this. I say _they _because knowing my daughter Shizuru, she will not come out of hiding until she can make sure Natsuki can stay by her side."

Sumika and Kamiko nodded in agreement. They both knew how much Shizuru loved Natsuki and how determined she was. If she didn't want them to be found, they wouldn't be. It was all a matter of making sure they both knew they could stay together in Windbloom so that they would feel safe enough to stop hiding.

"Well," The lawyer began, tapping away on his data pad, "There is only one thing."

After finishing her second soy burger and wiping her mouth clean with a napkin, Natsuki grinned, "That was the best meal I've ever had!"

Shizuru laughed softly, "Ara, is our little one making Natsuki eat weird things? I had never seen Natsuki eat anything in a burger that wasn't meat!"

Natsuki blushed, "Well...I just had a craving for it all of a sudden." She climbed back onto the bed and laid her head on Shizuru's lap.

Shizuru ran her hand down the silky strands of hair softly, "Ookini, Natsuki."

"Huh?" Natsuki asked, not sure why Shizuru was thanking her.

"For everything," Shizuru said softly, "For taking this on with me and for having our child. You don't know how happy I am to be with you, and even though the future is uncertain, I am glad you are with me."

Smiling, Natsuki raised herself to place a soft kiss on Shizuru's lips, "I love you, Shizuru."

"I love you too, Natsuki."

They stayed in a comfortable silence momentarily before Shizuru's eyes widened in realization.

Natsuki frowned when Shizuru pushed her aside lightly and got up from the bed, "Shizuru, where are you-"

Natsuki stopped when she saw Shizuru kneel beside the bed. Natsuki quickly sat up on the edge of the bed facing Shizuru, "Wha-What are you doing?"

"Marry me, Natsuki," The words left Shizuru's lips and caused Natsuki's eyes to widen, "Shizuru..."

Shizuru grabbed a hold of Natsuki's hands, "I can't imagine my life without you. I want to be with you forever Natsuki, there is nothing else I want. I knew it from the moment I saw you that you were the one for me. No matter what happens, I want us to be together and now I can't phantom a life where I don't have you or our child."

Natsuki saw Shizuru's eyes glaze with tears, "I know the future is scary, Natsuki. But I promise you I will do everything it takes to make you and our child happy. I will protect both of you against everything and everyone. It will be rough, I know, but please believe me when I say that I will make sure that you and our baby are loved and cared for."

Shizuru's crimson eyes were filled with longing and hope as she met Natsuki's emerald orbs, "Please marry me, Natsuki, and I will live every day of my life making you happy because I love you more than anything and you are the love of my life." She smiled, "You are my everything, Natsuki. Will you marry me?"

Natsuki was left speechless, not knowing what to say after Shizuru's sudden proposal. Natsuki had never been good with expressing her feelings the way Shizuru was but luckily for her, there was no need for a lot of words.

Pulling Shizuru up to her feet with her, Natsuki kissed Shizuru deeply before pulling back slightly and smiling, "Yes, I will marry you, Shizuru."


	11. Chapter 11

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**11**

Looking at the reflection in the mirror, Natsuki rested her hand over her abdomen carefully. "Hey little one," She whispered softly, a smile on her face after realizing how silly she used to think pregnant women were. She used to make fun of Akane when she would talk to her unborn child but now she realized it wasn't silly at all.

"I know its been kind of hectic out here," she continued, "but hopefully it will all be okay soon." Natsuki buttoned her black slacks and grabbed the white blouse that she had chosen earlier that day on her quick shopping trip with Shizuru. "Your mommy Shizuru and I are getting married this afternoon, which means you and I can stay here in Windbloom." She finished buttoning up the blouse and turned once again to her reflection, her hand traveling to her abdomen which had yet to begin showing, "It also means that your mommy Shizuru and I will be together for the rest of our lives and we will love you and take care of you."

Shizuru opened the door to the bathroom and couldn't hide her smile upon hearing the last of Natsuki's words to their child. Standing behind Natsuki, wearing a black knee-length skirt and white blouse covered by a blazer, Shizuru wrapped her arms around Natsuki's waist lovingly, "Mommy Shizuru loves your mommy Natsuki very much and we will both love you very much as well."

Natsuki smiled and turned in Shizuru's arms, placing a loving kiss on her fiancée's lips. "Is the lady ready for our impending vows?" Shizuru asked when Natsuki ended the kiss. Natsuki smirked, "You don't suppose I could still make a run for it do you?"

"Ara ara, Why does Natsuki wound me?" Shizuru pouted, "How could my damsel in distress have turned into the evil dragon in such a short period of time?"

A towel landed on Shizuru's face, "Baka." Natsuki laughed but their antics were cut short when there was a knock on the door.

Shizuru and Natsuki both went quiet and shared a worried look before Shizuru motioned for Natsuki to stay in place as she walked over quietly towards the door.

Natsuki could feel her heart beating loudly as she watched Shizuru looking through the peephole. A long silent moment passed before she saw a smile spread on Shizuru's lips as she quickly opened the door.

"Ojiisan!" Shizuru wasted no time as she hugged her grandfather who enveloped her in a strong hug. Shizuru felt a rush of emotion as she realized how much she had missed her grandfather and how much she needed her family to help her through this.

Yukino and Haruka waited patiently in the hall as the two Violas reconnected after the turn of events that had landed everyone here. The two had arrived at Shizuru's grandparent's house the day before and had explained to Hiro the situation. He immediately wanted to go look for Shizuru but the two women were able to convince him to stay put until they heard from Shizuru, who had instructed Haruka to wait until further notice. That afternoon, Shizuru had called them from a public phone and told them of the plan and asked for them to come the next day.

Once Hiro released her, Shizuru allowed them into the room. Natsuki stepped out from the bathroom as Shizuru greeted Yukino and Haruka. Within seconds, Natsuki found herself in a tight embrace from the older Viola in the room to the amusement of Haruka and Yukino who had never seen anyone but Shizuru permitted inside her personal space.

"Natsuki-kun,you don't know how happy I am to hear that you are going to officially be a part of my family!" Natsuki smiled weakly, still not used to Hiro's energy. "Thank you, Hiro-sama." Hiro released the bluenette, "No need for formalities, Natsuki-kun! You are marrying my Shizu-chan and giving me a great-grandchild!"

Shizuru and Natsuki were both relieved to know Hiro supported them and was happy about the news. Haruka and Yukino greeted Natsuki before Haruka pulled Shizuru out to the room's balcony, leaving Yukino and Hiro engaged in conversation while Natsuki finished getting ready.

"Is something the matter Haruka-chan?" Shizuru asked once Haruka slid the glass door shut. Haruka was silent for a second, her gaze set on the waters below, "Are you sure about this, Shizuru?"

"Sure about what?" Shizuru was confused, but had an idea what her friend was talking about, "About marrying Natsuki?"  
Haruka turned, her violet eyes staring into Shizuru's crimson, "Are you doing it for the right reasons?"

Shizuru was speechless.

"Shizuru, I know you love Natsuki but I would hate to see you go into a commitment like this just to keep Natsuki here." Haruka continued, "I understand that you want your child and her with you but marriage is a big step. Its major actually. If you go into this just because its the only way to keep them here, I'm afraid your marriage won't last."

The silence from Shizuru worried Haruka, "Listen, we can try to find another way to keep Natsuki here, I'm sure-"

Before Haruka continued, Shizuru interrupted her, "I love her, Haruka-chan. Keeping her here isn't the only reason why I asked her to marry me."

Haruka listened intently as Shizuru glanced out to the sea, "The first time I saw Natsuki, I was enthralled by her beauty. When I first began to know her, I was intrigued with a woman who was so beautiful but yet so mysterious to me. I thought it was a challenge at first, to get closer to her than anyone had. I wanted her to be mine, but as she opened up to me, I began to open myself up to her as well. It was when I fell in love with her that I realized it was not that I wanted to make her mine, but I wanted to be hers. I wanted to be hers completely, to be with her for the rest of my life."

Shizuru wiped a tear from her eye before turning to Haruka, "I have always known I wanted to be with her. Loving her, and being loved by her is the most natural thing I've ever felt. As though I was born for that sole purpose. Now that we are expecting a life we created with our love, it was just the right time to ask her to marry me and spend the rest of our days together. Had she not been pregnant, it would have only been a matter of time before I asked her to marry me."

"Well my friend," Haruka hugged Shizuru tightly, "we have an appointment with the rest of your life to get to."

After a short drive to the city hall, and a couple of signatures later, Shizuru and Natsuki were officially married. Knowing they no longer needed to hide, they began their trip back to Fuuka to celebrate with their family, whom Hiro took care of calling on the way back home.

Aika was silent the majority of the trip to Windbloom. Sumika and Katashi had invited her to stay at their estate as soon as they heard from Hiro that the girls would be home soon. Aika had accepted and had been careful to not alert her daughter of her departure from the island. She had not seen her daughter after Saeko found out about Aika's involvement with Natsuki's escape, so it had been fairly easy to leave without Saeko knowing.

She found Shizuru's parents to be very polite and kind, but Shizuru's grandmother kept glaring at her during the entire trip. Although she expected as much since her daughter had incarcerated Shizuru, Aika hoped that since finding out the girls were okay, that Kamiko would be more agreeable to her. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Haruka and Yukino had gone back to the Academy, deeming it proper for it to be a family-only evening since Shizuru and Natsuki had asked Hiro to not tell the family of their nuptials over the phone.

When the three arrived at the Viola estate, they saw the limousine outside and knew that their family was home. Natsuki grabbed Shizuru's hand nervously as they made their way inside, not sure how the Violas or her own grandmother would react to the news.

Stepping into the living room where their family awaited, Shizuru and Natsuki were both quickly wrapped in a hug by Sumika. "I am so glad you are both okay," She breathed, "We were so worried."

Sumika stepped back and allowed for her husband and Kamiko who also voiced their concern for the girls. Lastly, Aika hugged the girls as well, "Thank you for taking care of my Natsuki, Shizuru."

Shizuru smiled as Aika released them, "It is you whom I should thank for helping us back in Kruger." Hiro cleared his throat, motioning with his eyes towards the family. He did not want them to wait any longer to tell them the news, knowing Kamiko would not be very happy to know he kept that from her.

"Family," Shizuru grabbed Natsuki's hand which she had released when they were greeted coming in, "There is something we must tell you."

Natsuki's eyes locked with her grandmother's as Shizuru continued, "This afternoon, Natsuki and I became legally married by the law of Windbloom. We did not do this for the sole purpose of keeping Natsuki in the country, but because we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together."

A long second of silence followed Shizuru's announcement, filling the girls with fear that the family would reject them but that worry banished when Kamiko suddenly got up from her seat and hugged Natsuki tightly, "Welcome to the family, Natsuki."

* * *

**A/N: This marks the end of the first part of Love You Today Tomorrow & Always. Thank you for sticking with me so far and prepare for the next part coming in January! I hope you all have an amazing new year and that you spend it reading a lot of fanfiction ;)**

**See you next year!**

**_Up next: Shizuru and Natsuki must return to Fuuka Academy and face the struggles that await there._  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**12**

"So beautiful..."

Turning towards the soft voice, Natsuki spotted a woman standing in the center of the darkened room.

"So small..."

Natsuki walked towards her and stopped just behind a woman whose long streaks of dark hair mirrored her own.

"Mom?"

Saeko turned, her bright emerald eyes now a sick and twisted black, carrying in her arms a baby wrapped in a crimson blanket.

Attempting to lift her arms to reach for the child, Natsuki panicked when she felt them stuck to her sides. Her entire body was frozen as she watched her mother turn and walk away with the child in her arms.

Natsuki could feel her mouth opening to scream, but all she heard was silence. Her legs fell under her, causing her to hit the ground with a painless thud as she continued to mutely scream into the darkness that swallowed her mother and the child slowly.

"Please..."

Eyes snapping open, Natsuki sat up on the bed, momentarily disoriented as beads of sweat adorned her face. The faint light from the moon illuminated the bedroom slightly and Natsuki could see, and feel, Shizuru's sleeping form next to her. Natsuki's heart was thundering against her ribcage and she wondered if it would wake Shizuru up.

Lightly removing Shizuru's arm from her waist where it was resting, Natsuki left the bed and walked as quietly as she could to the bathroom. Shizuru's bedroom was spacious enough that anyone in the bathroom would not disturb those in bed. Natsuki quickly closed the door and after turning the light on, proceeded to splash cold water in her face.

After drying her face off, Natsuki returned to Shizuru's side a bit calmer. She tried not to think about her nightmare, about the vivid image of her mother's dead eyes and the way she took her child away.

She laid her palm on her stomach which would begin to show in the next few weeks. With the pregnancies not being too long, babies needed the space to grow fast. The thought of how fat she would look made her frown.

"What has caused that frown on my beloved?" Shizuru asked, her voice heavy with sleep. "I'm going to look fat." Natsuki stated plainly, not wanting to bother Shizuru with her nightmare. She was sure it was because of her anxiety over returning to school the next day.

Smiling, Shizuru pulled Natsuki closer to her body, spooning her as she whispered in her ear, "You will still be the most beautiful girl in the world."

Natsuki snorted, "Yea right."

Shizuru quickly fell back to sleep whilst holding Natsuki, who was soon taken over by sleep as well.

The drive to the school was longer than any Shizuru remembered. She was nervous, and if she were honest, a tad curious as to how school life would be now that everyone knew about Natsuki's pregnancy.

Due to the controversy over their marriage, it soon made national headlines that the daughter of the prestigious Viola family had married the daughter of the Kruger heiress amidst an unplanned pregnancy and family turmoil. Although Shizuru was not sure how the media found everything out about their marriage, she was very surprised at how much power the Viola name actually held in Windbloom.

Natsuki glanced at her but Shizuru quickly placed her worries away, needing to remain strong and confident for Natsuki who would have the most difficult time with her new role. "Don't worry my love, everything will be fine."

Offering a halfhearted smile, Natsuki merely nodded.

A few silent minutes later, Fuuka Academy appeared down the road, its tall buildings looming dangerously in the horizon. Shizuru gave Natsuki's knee a reassuring squeeze as she drove up to the parking lot.

As soon as the vehicle stopped, all heads seemed to turn instantly towards the pair.

"Shit." Natsuki felt her face began to flush with embarrassment as all the students who were making their way into the academy began to whisper upon seeing Shizuru's vehicle. Shizuru took a deep breath before turning to Natsuki, "We knew things would be hard the first few days. We just need to tough it out and they will forget about the whole thing in a few days."

Before Natsuki had a chance to say anything, there was a sharp tap on the passenger's window before the door flung open and Nao pulled Natsuki into a hug.

"What the hell are you doing, spider?" Natsuki asked as she was literally manhandled out of the vehicle. Nao pushed her back with a soft shove, "Never do that again! You had us worried, you stupid mutt!"

Again, Natsuki had no time to reply before the rest of the gang joined in welcoming her and Shizuru back to the school.

Thanks to their welcoming party, the rest of the students refrained from going anywhere near the couple. Whenever anyone seemed to get close to either, a well-placed glare sent them on their way.

Having several minutes to spare before classes actually began, the group headed towards an open table. Shizuru walked beside Natsuki but as they began to sit around, she leaned in and gave Natsuki a quick kiss, "I have a quick meeting with Miss Maria. I will see you in class."

Natsuki nodded and the group watched as Shizuru walked away. "So mutt," Nao began, knowing the girls were dying to ask their friend a few questions. Chie, Aoi, and Nina waited silently as Nao continued, "will you enlighten us with what happened?"

"I think you guys know." Natsuki stated simply, but when Nao's eyes narrowed at her, she released a defeated sigh, "Well what do you want to know?"

"First," Chie leaned across the table, "How is it being married to the one and only Shizuru Viola?" Nao rolled her eyes and shoved Chie back into her seat, "You're an idiot." Chie shrugged, "I'm just asking. I mean-"

Takeda walked up to their table, effectively interrupting them. Nao's body went rigid upon seeing the boy as her eyes darted around him looking for Yuuichi and when she didn't see him, she felt herself relax. After the incident with him, she had only seen him in the academy's hallways briefly and he had not approached her again.

"Welcome back, Natsuki-san." Takeda ignored the rest of the girls, his gaze fixed on Natsuki. "Thanks..." Natsuki replied, unsure of why he had approached her. After she had rejected his advances numerous of times, he had finally laid off his pursue of her when she began dating Shizuru. She figured he at least had enough decency to do that.

Ever since that, their interactions had been very limited so his sudden appearance confused her. Takeda offered what appeared to be a genuine smile, "I just wanted to congratulate you and wish for both you and Shizuru-san the best."

The bell signaling the start of class went off and with a small bow, Takeda went on his way.

"Well, that was awkward." Nao stated as they began to grab their bags and make their way to class. Nao grabbed Natsuki's book bag from beside her, "Let me carry that for you, wouldn't want you to hurt yourself doing any heavy lifting."

"Screw off, spider." Natsuki retorted as she snatched her bag back. "Hey now, the baby can hear you." Chie mused from beside Aoi, who laughed. Natsuki flipped her off as they made their way into class, secretly thankful for her friend's lighthearted teasing. They knew it was a hard situation for Natsuki, and she was glad that they were there for her.

Upon entering the classroom, Natsuki quickly spotted Shizuru in her seat and realized that she looked almost pale. "Is something the matter, Shizuru?" Natsuki asked as she walked to Shizuru's desk.

Shizuru smiled, her facade quickly changing, "Everything is alright, why do you ask?" Natsuki studied Shizuru's face, "You just looked upset." Shizuru grabbed her hand, "All is well. Go have a seat before the teacher gets here, my Natsuki."

Although she had a feeling that Shizuru was hiding something, Natsuki gave up for the moment and proceeded to her own seat.

"Aoi, you should give Natsuki your notes so she can get back on track." Nao said as she extended her hand out to the brunette. "Why don't you give her your own notes, Nao?" Chie asked as she watched her girlfriend dig into her book bag.

Pretty soon, Midori walked in and class began.

The following hours were for the most part uneventful with the student body knowing to keep their distance away from Natsuki, even more so than usual.

Once lunch time rolled around, Natsuki sat with her Nao and Chie whilst Shizuru attended a short meeting that Haruka insisted she had to attend, citing the numerous meetings she had already missed and making it impossible for Shizuru to spend lunch with Natsuki as she had planned.

At the student council room, Shizuru took a sip from her tea as she listened to Reito's report for the past days she and Haruka had been gone. It seemed like such a long time since it all had started with Natsuki's sudden disappearance but in reality it hadn't been that long. Yet, with her return to school there were many things she needed to take care of.

With the year coming to an end within months, there was plenty of work that would keep Shizuru occupied as she carried on her duties as president. She worried that it would overwhelm her and take up too much of her time.

"Here is the list of vendors you must contact for the festival, Shizuru-san." Shizuru opened the file that Reito had sent to her laptop and sighed as she scrolled down the long list. The festival coming up was the biggest of the year and the number of vendors they needed to sponsor the event was large.

Haruka smirked, "That's one task that you cannot delegate." Shizuru frowned, knowing Haruka spoke the truth. As much as she enjoyed giving all the work to Haruka to do, contacting the vendors was something she had to do herself. Most of the vendors would be offended if the academy sent anyone but the president to ask for their sponsorship.

After the meeting, Shizuru made her way to her fire mastery class and was intercepted by Mai.

"Mai-san." Shizuru eyed the girl carefully, not forgetting that the last time they had come face-to-face, Mai had tried to fight her.

Mai bowed apologetically, "I want to apologize for my behavior when all of this started." Shizuru was taken aback by the sudden apology. Mai continued, "I realize I was very hard with you and I'm sorry about the way I acted."

Shizuru placed her hand lightly on Mai's shoulder as she straightened, "You were only looking out for Natsuki, and I see that now. It makes me happy to know that Natsuki has you looking out for her."

Taking Shizuru once again by surprise, Mai hugged her suddenly, "Thank you, Shizuru. I'm happy that you're family now." Shizuru hugged Mai back and felt grateful for Mai's support.

The rest of the school day went by uneventfully and the couple soon returned home.

After dinner, Natsuki waited by the entrance as Aika gave her goodbyes to Shizuru's parents. Shizuru hugged Aika, "Thank you for everything, Aika-san."

"Please take care of my Natsuki." Aika said as Shizuru released her. Shizuru nodded before turning to Natsuki, "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the port, Natsuki?"

"We'll be fine," Natsuki grabbed her grandmother's suitcase, "I'll be right back. Don't worry."

Seeing the worried look on her daughter's face as the two women left, Sumika walked up to her side and gave her a gentle hug, "You can't be with her all the time, Shizuru. You can't be getting worried every time she is out of your sight."

"I know…" Shizuru sighed, "I'll be in my room if you need me. I have plenty of work for the council to keep me occupied while Natsuki returns."

"Shizuru," Katashi interrupted, "I need to speak with you." Shizuru turned to her father and watched as her parents shared a knowing look before Sumika excused herself from the den.

"Is there something wrong, father?" Shizuru asked as she took a seat across from Katashi.

Katashi took a deep breath, "Shizuru, I know you have a lot going on right now, with Natsuki, the baby, and school. But there is something that we must speak about."

Shizuru remained silent as her father continued.

"As happy as I am about my grandchild, we both agree that this hinders your plans of going to college, correct?" Katashi asked.

"I realize that it won't be easy but I will find a job to support my family and get an education as well," Shizuru explained nervously, not really sure how she would accomplish it but trying to sound reassuring for her father, "I don't expect any more help from you or mom. You have helped us enough as it is and I am thankful for that."

Katashi smiled, "You needn't thank us, Shizuru. You are our daughter and our job is to help you succeed through life and get through the obstacles that life puts in your way." Katashi continued, "Your mother and I have decided that being as how the circumstances have changed, we must adapt and with that said, we have decided that you will start working with the company as soon as you graduate. You will take courses to help you learn the business along the way and by the time I need to step down, you will be more than ready to take over the company."

Shizuru was speechless. She knew her parents were very supportive of her and Natsuki but she never imagine they would allow her to join the company right away.

"We know that it will be hard for you as it is and we realize that the leadership skills you already have need only be refined and that will only come with time." Katashi smiled, "Besides, what better place to learn about the company you will be running than at the company itself?"

Shizuru made her way across the small space separating her and Katashi and hugged him tightly, "Thank you father, you have no idea what this means to me."

Watching from the doorway unbeknownst to Shizuru, Sumika smiled as Katashi hugged Shizuru, "Your mother and I also think that for now since you two are still in school, it will be better for you to stay here at home. But as soon as you graduate and the baby is born, we will see about getting you two your own home."

Shizuru felt an immense weight lift from her shoulders knowing that her parents were there for her.

"If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. I will come back to see you soon, Natsuki." Aika kissed Natsuki's cheek and hugged her tightly before she boarded the royal boat that would take her back to Kruger.

Natsuki waved good bye and watched as the boat disappeared in the horizon. The port was brightly illuminated but when Natsuki returned to the parking lot, she felt an uneasy feeling overcome her. She hurried to her car and drove away as fast as she could.

The soft music calmed Natsuki as she kept looking at her rear mirror without seeing anyone follow her. After a few minutes, she relaxed and wonder if it had been anything at all.

Darkness enveloped the road as she drove towards the mansion when a vehicle seemed to appear out of nowhere behind Natsuki. Glancing at the dashboard to see her speed, she noticed she was driving slightly above the speed limit, however the vehicle appeared to close in and remain within inches of her.

Natsuki accelerated and began to panic when she realized they did also. She couldn't see the vehicle at all in the darkness, just the bright lights but before anything else could happen, she saw the mansion's gates up ahead. She quickly turned back to her rearview mirror and found absolute darkness, the vehicle nowhere within sight.

The gates opened for Natsuki as she drove up and she stayed in her vehicle for a few moments, scared to leave the car. She looked around and she found nothing.

'_I'm sure that car was following me… Someone was following me…'_

Natsuki took a deep breath and left the car. As she walked up to the mansion, she looked behind her once again, making her mind to keep what had happened from Shizuru.

'_She has enough on her plate as it is, I don't need to be worrying her any more. Besides, it was probably some idiot who thinks it's funny to drive stupidly and try to scare drivers.'_

With her mind set, Natsuki entered the mansion and was greeted by a maid who told her Shizuru was already in the bedroom.

Natsuki made her way upstairs and couldn't help but smile when she found Shizuru fast asleep on her desk. She made her way silently towards her and shook her lightly, "Shizuru, I'm home."

Shizuru tried to awaken, "Natsu…ki…I have…something…" Natsuki grinned as she grabbed Shizuru by her waist and pulled her towards the bed carefully. Shizuru tried to help Natsuki by walking herself to the bed but as soon as she hit the bed, she curled up and fell asleep.

After getting ready for bed, Natsuki joined Shizuru. It took her a few minutes to fall asleep but she soon allowed sleep to overtake her.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Another chapter so quick?! Yes! To my lovely readers as an apology for my inability to update until now. I also wanted to say that I have a new blog up for my stories where you can all go read updates on what is going on with the stories and take a look at my other work, even a video! I really hope you get a chance to take a look at it and enjoy it. The website is rasphere . com **

**Please visit after reading and let me know if you like :)**

**Also, thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter. I was so overwhelmed with all of your support and as a thanks, here is this chapter :)**

**Thank you and enjoy!**

* * *

**Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always**

**13**

"How about this one?" Mai held up the bright purple yukata with yellow flowers. Natsuki hummed, appearing to be in deep thought before shaking her head, "Nope. Too bright."

Mai frowned but placed the yukata back in the rack as she looked for another one. "What color do you think I should get, then?"

Before Natsuki could answer, Chie called out to them from the other side of the small store. "Hey guys!" Aoi and Chie made their way quickly over to the two girls. Chie, as she always did, went straight to Natsuki's stomach which was now rounded and growing since she was halfway through the pregnancy.

"How's the little baby doing?" Chie asked and Aoi joined her in touching Natsuki's belly. They had just seen Natsuki a few hours before but they were absolutely obsessed with the baby already.

"She is doing fine, just like she was earlier today." Natsuki responded as she swatted their hands away. "Now hurry and choose your yukatas so we can go meet Nao and Nina for dinner."

"Fine, fine." Chie said, beginning to look for her yukata. "Have you bought a yukata yet, Natsuki?"

Natsuki shook her head to a yukata that Mai held up to her, "No, too dull." She turned to Chie, "Yea, I have one already."

"What she means," Mai interjected, "Is that Shizuru is having their yukatas made by their family tailor since Natsuki said she looked too fat in all the ones she tried here."

"Wow, that's really cool, Natsuki!" Aoi said as she grabbed one and held it up to her friends, "I want to save money here so I can spend all my money at the festival tomorrow."

Chie inspected the yukata, "Yea, we wait all year for this festival and we plan on blowing all our money on the delicious food and games."

"Well, Shizuru has put a lot of work into the festival this year," Natsuki commented, remembering not too fondly the long nights of work Shizuru had spent planning the event. "I'm sure it will be a fun festival this year."

The three girls all nodded in agreement as Mikoto walked up to them, kissing Mai briefly before greeting the rest of the girls. "Hello!"

"Where were you Mikoto?" Aoi asked.

"I had to stay after class to finish a project." Mikoto replied with a smile before turning to Natsuki, "I saw Shizuru-san as I was leaving the school. She told me to let you know she wouldn't be able to make it to our shopping trip or for dinner with us tonight and that she was sorry."

Natsuki's smile faltered, "Thanks, Mikoto." She knew Shizuru had forgotten her phone at home so she couldn't even contact her at all.

During the rest of their shopping trip, Natsuki tried to have fun with her friends as they chose their yukatas for the festival but she couldn't help but miss Shizuru. She had thought that living with Shizuru would be difficult and if she were honest with herself, a small part of her actually feared that their relationship would suffer from living together with Shizuru's parents but everything had been perfect.

She absolutely loved being able to go to sleep in Shizuru's arms and waking up in them as well. Shizuru's parents were very supportive and with the size of the mansion they were able to give the new couple their space as well. Their relationship had only grown stronger in the last two months and with school finally getting back to normal for them, Shizuru had been almost overwhelmed with work for the student council.

Shizuru had offered Natsuki to step down as student council president to spend more time together but Natsuki had insisted that she didn't. Natsuki knew that as much work as being in charge of the student council was, Shizuru absolutely loved it. She loved the responsibility, the status, even the power that came with being student president. She had earned her position as the president and Natsuki was not going to let Shizuru give it up for her.

It was difficult at times with Shizuru spending hours at her desk, and sometimes every going to her father's office to not disturb Natsuki as she slept but Natsuki knew that it was just the type of person Shizuru was. Committed and driven to give her best in everything she did.

It was one of the reasons she loved Shizuru as much as she did.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Nao and Nina were already there. They all sat down and placed their orders and chatted vividly as they waited for their food.

"So I had no choice but pin him to the wall after that." Nao finished recounting the events from her mastery class as the food arrived.

"You didn't get in trouble?" Chie asked as the waitress placed her platter in front of her.

"Well of course, but detention is so worth the look in his face when he realized he was screwed." Nao stated proudly. Natsuki grinned and gave her friend a high five.

Just as Natsuki dug into her food, a voice came from behind her, "Sorry I'm late."

Natsuki turned to find Shizuru standing behind her, looking perfect as always. "Shizuru! I thought you weren't coming." Shizuru tilted her head slightly, a frown grazing her features, "Did my Natsuki not wish to see me?"

"She's been crying for hours, Shizuru. Make her stop!" Nao joked as they slid their chairs closer together to make space for Shizuru around their table.

"Ara, is that so?" Shizuru turned to Natsuki who blushed, unaware that her friends had caught on to her change in mood as soon as she found out Shizuru wouldn't be joining them.

The conversation quickly resumed and soon after turned to a discussion about the baby's name.

"So I know I ask you like every day, but have you guys chosen a name for the kiddo yet?" Nao asked, eyeing the couple.

Shizuru and Natsuki shared a glance before Shizuru smiled, "We have, actually." In the short time after marrying Natsuki, she had grown closer to the group of friends quicker than she had in the entire time she and Natsuki dated.

"What?" Mai nearly jumped out of her chair, "And you haven't told us yet?"

"We were!" Natsuki defended, "But if Nao keeps talking and hogging up the conversation, how can we tell you?"

A noodle flew across the table and landed on Natsuki's cheek, "Shut up, mutt! Now tell us the name!"

Shizuru wiped the noddle away quickly from her wife before Natsuki started a food war. She grabbed Natsuki's hand, "Should I tell them or do you want to?"

"Just tell us!" Nao was preparing to throw more food when Natsuki glared at her, "Shut up." Natsuki looked at all of her friends, "We have decided to name our baby Mashiro."

Squeals of delight erupted from the table. "I love that name! It will be perfect!" Mai exclaimed as she got up and walked the short distance around the table to hug the couple. After more congratulations from their friends, Nao asked, "Why that name? Any particular reason?"

"We just like it, spider. Is that a problem?" Natsuki retorted before throwing a noodle to the redhead. "Actually, we love the meaning of it." Shizuru said, "We think the meaning of 'pure white' to be very poetic in a way."

Chie lifted her glass, "I agree! Cheers for Mashiro!"

Fireworks exploded loudly overhead as the summer festival began at the Fuuka Academy.

Mai walked hand in hand with Mikoto as they searched the crowd looking for their friends. The quickly spotted Aoi and Chie at one of the food stalls stuffing their mouths with their favorite foods.

"Are you guys coming to watch Nao during the tournament?" Mai asked as they approached the couple. Chie looked up briefly from her food to nod, "Yea, we will be there."

"You better!" Nao said, appearing besides Mai. She was dressed in skinny jeans and a black blouse since she would be changing into battle gear soon. Nina was at her side, holding a small plastic bag with the gold fish that Nao had won her.

Mikoto poked the bag lightly, "You're going against Takeda right? He won last year's tournament."

Nao shrugged, "I don't care. He's going down. I'm taking the title this year. Only reason he won last year's tournament was because I wasn't in it." Every year during the summer festival an elemental tournament took place where every class had their own battles within their element and at the end, there was a final battle where a single winner was named. Although some elements had obvious advantages in battle, skills such as tactics and finesse were judged in the battle to proclaim a winner fairly.

On the other side of the campus, Shizuru watched delightfully as Natsuki attempted for the tenth time to catch a goldfish without any luck. "My Natsuki, I don't think the fish like you very much. I think they're scared."

Natsuki ignored her wife's taunts as she watched with rising anger as her small net once again ripped. "I will catch a damn goldfish if it's the last thing I do!"

Shizuru tried to laugh her laughter behind her hand as Natsuki tried again. She continued watching Natsuki until someone bumped into her harshly.

"I'm so sorry, Shizuru-sama." Takeda said as he bowed lightly in apology. "I did not see you there."

Shizuru straightened her yukata, "It's alright, Takeda-san." She smiled politely, "Are you enjoy the festival? I must say, I was surprised when I heard you would not be participating in the tournament this year. Did you not wish to defend your title as champion, Takeda-san?"

"I wish others to have the opportunity to win this year," Takeda replied, "And with me in the tournament, that would not be possible."

"How generous of you, Takeda-san." Shizuru had to try very hard to not roll her eyes at his arrogance, "I am sure all of the competitors thank you."

Takeda bowed once again, "I must excuse myself now, Shizuru-sama. Enjoy the festival."

Shizuru returned the gesture with a similar bow, "And likewise, Takeda-san."

Natsuki approached Shizuru whilst holding her new goldfish, "Look Shizuru! I won!"

Shizuru turned her attention back to her wife, "Shall we name him Kiyohime?" She asked as they began to walk in search of their friends. Natsuki shook her head, "More like Duran."

"Anyways, why were you talking to Takeda?" Natsuki asked as they kept walking, having missed their conversation because of her game.

"I just commented on his absence from the tournament this year." Shizuru said holding Natsuki's hand tightly as they weaved through the crowd.

"I see." Natsuki said. Having no other comments on the subject, the two walked in silence looking for their friends as the first bell for the tournament start.

Shizuru pulled Natsuki towards her, "Perhaps our friends have made their way into the stadium already. Should we go look for them there?" The stadium was a large structure set up on the Fuuka fields that had enough space for the entire body surrounding a transparent enclosed arena that was set up to withstand all the elemental attacks without any spectators being placed in danger.

Natsuki nodded as Shizuru led them towards the stadium. "I know we have seats reserved in the council platform," Natsuki said as they walked, "But I was wondering if we could perhaps sit with our friends instead?"

Before Shizuru could answer, Haruka came running up to Shizuru, "Shizuru, we have a big problem with one of the vendors. You need to come immediately."

Shizuru sighed and turned to Natsuki, "Go ahead, Natsuki. I will join you as soon as I can."

Natsuki kissed Shizuru briefly before they parted ways.

"Hey Natsuki!" Mai greeted as Natsuki found her friends on the stands, "Where were you? Where's Shizuru?"

"She had to take care of something. She will come sit with us as soon as she can." Natsuki explained as she took a seat between Mai and Chie.

The first battle to commence the tournament was that of the fire class and the entire stadium became bright with the flame attacks that emanated from the arena.

"I swear, Shizuru. Sometimes I wonder why I ever wanted to join the student council to begin." Haruka said as they walked towards the stadium where the tournament was in full swing, "I cannot believe we just spent half an hour teaching two grown men how to be nice to each other."

"Well, they both wanted to be in the front gate. It is a legitimate request." Shizuru said. She had hoped that she would be able to go back to Natsuki's side quickly after leaving her but that had not been possible after two vendors started arguing and threatened to leave if their matter was not resolved.

As they approached the stadium, Shizuru could see Nao was in the arena getting into position for the bell to start her match, "Seems like it's Nao's turn."

"That girl is pretty good, she has a good chance of winning." Haruka said as she spotted Yukino in the council platform that stood higher than the other stands directly in front of the arena.

"I think so too." Shizuru said as they reached the entrance.

Before anything else could be said, the bell signaling the start of the match went off and with it, a large explosion in the arena shook the entire stadium as it shred the council platform to pieces, sending burning debris everywhere.

Black smoke filled the ski while cries of panic and pain tore through Fuuka Academy.


End file.
